Miracles of Ancient Wonder: Remnant
by GravelessUniverse
Summary: Ruby Rose, Chosen of the Maiden of Battles, has left her old life behind in order to do what's right. Now she must track-down her wayward teammates and find a solution to all of the problems of the world, both those caused by her own actions and those she has become aware of. A RWBY/Exalted crossover. Sequel to Miracles of Ancient Wonder.
1. Chapter 1-1

**A/N: This story is a sequel to another story of mine Miracles of Ancient Wonder. A lot of what's going on right now won't make any sense if you haven't read the first one so I'd highly recommend doing that. If you don't and want to puzzle things out, then I'd very interested in hearing your thoughts and reactions to everything that gets referenced.**

 **You can find it here:** **s/11963185/1/Miracles-of-Ancient-Wonder**

* * *

Ruby held Crescent Rose to her shoulder, an Ursa in her sights. She focused on the chamber of her weapon, which was empty, and the flow of energy as it led to the end of the barrel. With a quick pulse of her Aura and a pull of the trigger, _she forced a unit of violence into existence._ The Ursa's head exploded because that was the power of the gun, to connect the barrel with the target and deal death at a distance. Technically speaking, she could've forced the Grimm to be peaceful to her, and her only, but this wasn't a normal group of them, it was a horde that needed to be killed.

Her next three shots cleared the road of greater Grimm and opened a route to the fields surrounding Dōsatsu City. Regular Grimm were barely worth paying attention to, they crumpled under Bumblebee's wheels. Her sister's borrowed bike was every bit the vehicle of a Huntress that Ruby'd expected it to be: strong, tough, and fast.

As she crested a hill, the slate walls of the city took over the skyline. They were tall and built with late Colorless Empire sensibilities, designed at the point where the outlying regions couldn't count on Vale to send them any aid and enemy Aura-wielders were more of a threat than the Grimm. The Cross-Continental Transmit Repeater poked above them, lighting up the evening sky with a brilliant blue glow. It was a beacon of freedom and civilization in the far reaches of the territory Vale claimed. It was also near the last place that Blake and Yang had been spotted.

The fields around the city were coated in the inky blackness of Grimm. Explosions of fire and ice dotted the landscape, the results of the artillery that fired in staccato from the walls while the anti-air guns provided a solid tempo. Their blasts formed a line that the smaller Grimm couldn't cross, an area of denial that would funnel them towards Ruby's target: the whirlwind scything through the horde like a hot knife through butter. She could barely make out a feminine figure, who had to be the area's strongest Huntress, in the center of the winds thanks to all of the debris being thrown around.

Ruby gunned the engine and shifted Crescent Rose to her lance form, the blade rotating to be in line with the shaft. Her front wheel hopped into the air, smashing into an Ursa's back as it fell, and she cleared a path through the sea of monsters. It was easier to cleave through without worrying about hitting the ground if you rode on top of them.

The small tornado dissipated by being shot away from the city as Ruby approached. In the center was a tall, blond woman with a polemace that had a spinning head. Considering the thickness of the white and gold armor she wore, she should be a front liner like Yang, Pyrrha, Nora, and Jaune.

Ruby waved as she approached, slowing to a stop and using Crescent Rose's rifle mode to keep the Grimm back. Her Aura was almost definitely stronger than the woman's, but using too much of her power while wearing the mantle of Ruby Rose, Long-Wandering Huntress, would cause problems. She didn't know what type of problems and wasn't in any rush to find out since thinking about them sent a shiver down her spine.

"Hello there! Glad to see a fellow Academy Huntress entering the fray. I'm Celeste, Guardian of Dōsatsu City." The woman raised her head, ponytail spiraling behind her as she batted a rolling Boarbatusk away. After a moment, noticing the questioning look Ruby was giving her, she continued. "You're from Vale then. I'm the Huntress-Commander of the city, aka Guardian."

"Gotcha. I'm Ruby Rose." She continuously fired, keeping her eyes on their enemies. Though she did catch the slight frown from Celeste. "How did you know I went to Beacon?"

"Only three types of people can cut through Grimm like that: monks, syndicate heavies, and Academy Hunters. No offense, but you really don't seem like the type for the first two."

"Syndicate?"

"Mistral crime families. Ever since that mess at Beacon, they've been moving in along the coast."

"Oh…" Ruby'd have to do something about that if she found them since that was sort of her fault.

"Also, Stahl warned me that a Ruby Rose would be coming our way next. Even though I wasn't expecting you to be that capable from what he said." Celeste pressed a button on her weapon's shaft and fired a wall of razor wind with her next swing. "You couldn't have picked a better time to arrive."

If Ruby hadn't been wearing the scant bits that remained of her crafted identity, no one would have been able to remember her. "Are you low on Hunters?"

"Unfortunately so. The Anathema made sure of that." She spat at an Alpha Beowolf before slamming it across the field. "My junior Guardian was incapacitated after fighting them by the curse on Vale. I sent him to a hospital in the city until he recovers. And the regulars are distracting the rest of the horde in the forest."

"I'm sorry."

After a brief hesitation, Celeste shook her head. "It isn't your fault, but thank you."

Ruby barely resisted the urge to look away. That actually was her fault. "Did he particularly dislike the Anathema?"

"No, but when they came near, he insisted on fighting them," Celeste sighed. "I don't know what they did to him, but he couldn't get out of bed when he returned. Once that happened, the panic set in."

Ruby took a deep breath. What were Blake and Yang doing? She had been sure that they weren't bad people, that was a pretty big part of why she'd cursed Vale, but if they were hurting other people… Then she didn't know what she'd do. "You didn't go with him?"

"I'm not about to leave my city without a Huntress and my children without a mother. I've fought one of those demons before, one who had been active for only a month. It was almost beyond me." The lines of silver in the older woman's hair were obvious now that Ruby was closer. If it wasn't for those, and the cold calmness in her eyes, Ruby wouldn't have guessed her above thirty. "Two that spent most of a semester at Beacon would take an army that I don't have."

"Mmh." Ruby nodded. If it came down to a fight, she wasn't sure if she could take either Blake or Yang despite her not only beating one of the strongest Huntresses at Beacon one on one, but also having only gotten better in the months of searching for her runaway teammates. "Who's manning the cannons then?"

"We have a civilian militia and a squad of combat school graduates. Their Auras may be weak, but their hearts are strong and their aim steady." She pointed over her shoulder at the nearest cannon.

Ruby looked at the wall, quickly calculating the yield and fire-rate of those guns. She had the rounds to turn the tide of the ground fight. "Can I take command of the nearest group? I'll be more effective at range and should coordinate firing zones with them."

"Do you have any experience leading in combat?"

"I was a team leader at Beacon."

Celeste glanced at Ruby, backhanding a Beowolf as it lept at her. She pointed to a section of the wall with her mace. "Head for the east gate and take position on the wall. Command frequency is seventy three point four, I'll let the third know to expect you."

Ruby nodded, glancing at the gate. "One more question. What sort of Elder Grimm are we dealing with?"

This many Grimm would never coordinate without an older, more intelligent Grimm leading it. They would've come in small, easily taken out, groups.

"Ancient Boarbatusk. My scouts say it's almost thirty feet tall at the shoulder. It's still chasing them around the forest."

Ruby dropped the empty magazine from Crescent Rose and slammed one full of Dust rounds in its place. "Gotcha."

* * *

Several minutes of light combat passed before Celeste heard Ruby's voice over her earpiece.

"Ruby Rose, in position for fire support. Squads two through five, focus our fire on the edges of the battlefield and leave the main arc to me."

"What?" Celeste asked herself, momentarily freezing. The girl didn't think she could provide four cannons worth of fire herself, did she?

"Ruby, are you sure about-" Celeste's question was interrupted by the first shot of the girl's sniper rifle.

A massive Dust explosion, slightly smaller than one of their heavy shells, blossomed within the densest pack of Grimm. A moment later, a second appeared, and a third, and a fourth. The bursts of fiery energy continued until eight in total tore through their enemies. Ruby had in fact outdone four normal cannons worth of damage with what seemed like a single shot.

And then she fired again, a one woman artillery battery.

Celeste turned back to the Grimm, trying to ignore the clustered destruction surrounding her. That had to be the girl's Semblance. No one, not even Atlas' Specialists, would burn through such expensive ammunition that quickly. A single Dust round for a heavy rifle would have cost the same as a nice dinner for her family, so burning through something as advanced as a cluster warhead would be ludicrous. And yet, she couldn't deny its effectiveness.

But, it wouldn't do to rely so much on one so much younger to defend her city.

Celeste pressed a button on the handle of her Typherion. Wind Dust flowed into the head of the mace, spinning it faster and faster. Within seconds, it had been concealed by swirling clouds. Only then did she unleash her Semblance, strengthening the winds and giving them a razor's edge. They encircled her, narrowed until lines of sliced air could be seen, and she became the whirlwind once more.

She rocketed into the waves of Grimm, leaving piles of bodies and limbs in her wake. It was not an efficient combat strategy, as her teachers had told her many times, but it was impossible for the small ones to survive. Someone with a weaker Aura would have lasted minutes, but she was a child of Heroes with a soul to match. She hoped her own children would reach the same heights, but none seemed too interested in fighting.

With two Huntresses on the field, none of the Grimm made it close to the walls. They needed something stronger to push through.

A line of trees swayed to the side, it's steps boomed as they approached, and it revealed itself. The monster was a bit taller than she'd heard.

The great Boarbutusk briefly stopped, then came smashing through the edge of the forest in the roll that its species was so famous for. It dug a deep trench, kicking up mounds of dirt as it charged her. The lesser Grimm caught in front of it were crushed flat, but none of that would matter if it hit the wall.

Celeste pointed her mace away from it and spun more Wind Dust. The gale became strong enough that she was pulled away even with her heavy armor. But before she could move, a scarlet flash appeared in the air in front of it.

Ruby's red cloak whipped in the wind as she held her rifle out. Four Gravity Dust rounds hit it in the side, twisting its path, and one more launched it into the air, several impossible shots considering her position. It spun up, in a clumsy arc, soaring over the field and right into another attack by Ruby. As soon as she'd fired, she'd vanished into a cloud of petals and reappeared in it's path, spinning in the air.

The tip of her weapon caught the Boarbatusk and tore into it. They spun in opposite directions, allowing her the maximum amount of power behind the blow… or was it blows? Ruby was far off and spinning fast enough that it was hard to make out her weapon, but it seemed like there were five blades cutting into the Grimm in succession, as if she was a saw blade.

That all might be explainable by a duplication Semblance along with a martial art or weapon evocation, but it was very odd for someone that young to be so powerful. Stahl would've recognized someone that powerful visiting his town. Then again, he also hadn't seen her in a serious fight.

The massive creature hit the ground in a heap. Two of its legs and one tusk had almost been severed by the assault and yet, it tried to stand again. Ruby landed on its head, weapon pointed at its skull. She fired once, but the bullet deflected off of the monster's mask.

 _Ruby held a hand toward it, fingers outstretched. She closed them, as if she were grasping something, then pulled back. As her hand moved above her head, long strips were torn from the Grimm, as if she'd yanked wires that ran through its body free._ When the last ribbon separated, it began to decompose.

Celeste drummed her fingers on the shaft of her mace. That was a very interesting attack. It was too subtle for sorcery, but could be a martial art. She'd need to look into just what Ruby did after they cleaned up.

Thankfully, finishing off the remaining Grimm was easy.

* * *

Ruby stepped into the entry hall of Celeste's house with a whistle. "Wow, it's so big. Thanks for inviting me over."

"It's the least I could do for the stranger who saved us." The older woman waved it off and shouted up the stairs, "I'm back and we have a guest."

The house was huge, more twice the size of Ruby's home in Patch, but, if someone had as many kids as the pictures on the wall showed, that made sense. There were five little ones, unless Ruby wasn't counting them right. The pictures closest to the door were the newest, with each line getting closer to baby pictures, and furthest in were what must've teenaged Celeste with her family of... six sisters and…

"Celeste?" Ruby paused in front of an almost full family picture. "What's your maiden name?"

"Hmm?" Celeste stepped behind Ruby and smiled. "Ahh, yeah, I thought that you'd recognize him. Jaune Arc, Hero of Beacon, aka my baby bro."

She pulled the picture off and ran her fingers over the glass. "I'm still Celeste Arc. Forest, my husband, took my name when we married."

"Why aren't you in that picture? And if you're a Huntress, why was Jaune so..." Ruby tried to figure out a nice way to phrase her other question without also sounding weird. "Why didn't he know anything about being a Hunter? When he came to Beacon, he didn't even know what Aura was!"

"You seem to know a lot about a boy so much younger than you."

"I still have friends at Beacon."

"Fair enough. Both of those questions have the same answer. Mom and dad didn't approve of my becoming a Huntress. Maribelle and Flora"- She pointed to the oldest girls -"both know, but as far as the others are concerned, I'm an armorsmith who cares more about her new family than her siblings."

Ruby could sense danger surrounding her next question, but pressed on anyway. Too many of her options were dangerous to ignore such a small amount. "That still doesn't explain his ignorance."

"When I decided to apply to a Hunter Academy, and even worse got in, they pulled the others out of school, moved to a very remote part of Vale, and home schooled them until they went away to college."

"How could they do that to their own kids?"

"I'm sure you've heard about our family legacy of heroism."

Ruby nodded.

"An Arc has lead the fight during every major war in the past century, the good ones and the bad. Papi and mémé were destroyed by what happened during the Faunus Rebellion. Dad says that his parents left to save their kingdom and came back as broken shells who hated their countrymen." Celeste closed her eyes. "They passed away when I was twelve, but I can still remember the way they looked at the Faunus, the regret and shame in their eyes."

Ruby looked at the picture again, then over to one of a happy old couple holding their grand-kids on their shoulders. "That's awful."

"Yeah, but that's how life fell into place." Celeste placed the picture back on the wall.

Ruby waited for a moment. "You should tell them. Now that Jaune's a Huntsman too, well Huntsman-in-training, they can't still be mad and there's no reason why you shouldn't rejoin your family."

She laughed emptily. "You're so young."

That was one of the phrases that Ruby had been tired of half way through her first month at Beacon.

"Maybe your parents are different, but do you really think they'd just accept you back if they spent years thinking that you could hurt your little sisters or brother because your own choices?"

And that was one of the questions still stuck in Ruby's head. Just how would Yang react when Ruby found her? What was dad thinking about?

"Now, that's not a good face for a pretty girl to have." Celeste clapped a hand on Ruby's shoulder. "I'm sure that whatever you're thinking of wasn't that bad and they'll still love you."

There was something in the woman's eyes beyond sympathy. Unfortunately, Ruby couldn't quite tell exactly what it was.

"And even if they don't," She pointed to a picture of herself with two little kids on her shoulders. "Once you have one of your own, that won't matter as much."

Ruby flinched at the thought.

Celeste's eyes narrowed. "You don't want children?"

"No!" Ruby shouted. "I'm way too young to even think about something like that and also-" She shuddered at the thought of going through that. "Ugh."

"It's a lot easier before the responsibilities pile up and you can't take several months off without something going wrong. Someone with your talent will be in high demand for her whole life." She crossed her arms and shook her head, eyes never leaving Ruby's face. "Besides, you look like you're at the perfect age."

"What are you-" Ruby cut herself off when her disguise reminded her that freaking out would be out of character. She was currently Ruby Rose, _Long_ -Wandering Huntress and Beacon Graduate, who was in her mid-twenties, not her mid-teens. That didn't make the pushiness not annoying, but it was less of a terrible thought considering her mom was around the age that Ruby currently looked when Ruby'd been born. "Look, I'm not interested in any of that right now. I have much more important things to do, okay?"

Celestre watched her coldly. "Like what brought you so far from Vale?"

"Yeah."

She motioned to continue.

"I'm tracking down the two big Anathema."

"All by yourself? That's suicide."

Ruby shook her head. "No, it isn't."

Celeste grabbed her shoulder. "Listen, you might have just pulled of some crazy techniques earlier, but Anathema like that are no joke. They've beaten entire ships of Specialists."

"I have to."

"Why? You'd be throwing your life away by fighting them." Celeste wasn't saying something and Ruby had a good idea what it was now. The only question that remained, was how to get rid of her suspicion; even though, this identity was so short lived it being suspected of being Anathema wouldn't affect Ruby at all.

 _Ruby looked to the potential paths this conversation could take and, of course, found that there were none that would leave them both happy._ Of course there weren't, there hadn't been any real win-wins since… She couldn't remember how long. At least she could make sure Celeste was less sad.

"It's not that simple." Ruby dropped her head. "One of them was my sister."

Yang still was her sister, as far as Ruby was concerned, but that was what a loyal Huntress would say. It was like what Weiss always did, say just enough to let something think they knew what you were talking about.

The extra emotion vanished from Celeste's eyes. She closed them and ran her fingers over her eyelids. "I'm sorry. That's been a nightmare of mine all of my life... having to Hunt my own family."

"You've fought Anathema before?"

She pointed to a crest on her armor, right above her heart. "Do you know what this is?"

Ruby shook her head.

"What are they teaching at Beacon?" Celeste groaned. "If Jaune comes out not knowing anything about the other kingdoms, I'm going to send a very strongly worded letter to the headmaster… That's still Ozpin, isn't it?"

"You didn't go to Beacon?"

"I'm a Haven girl and this"- she pointed back to the patch -"means that I'm a knight of the Titan's Fist. That's the guild that handles all things Anathema in west Mistral and east Sanus."

The major guilds she remembered, just not their symbols. "I thought they went after really powerful Grimm."

Celeste nodded. "We do those too. 'Any great and powerful foe shall fall to the might of the Titans.'"

"Do you do investigations, like the ones in Vale?"

"Not my responsibility, but we're the guild in charge of them." She narrowed her eyes at Ruby's reaction. "Do you have a problem with that?"

That explained why there was no good end for her and also all of the suspicion. Ruby was Anathema after all. "They're horrible and something that good, moral people shouldn't take part in."

"I wouldn't call all of the interrogators moral, but they're needed to keep all of us safe." Celeste crossed her arms. "The criminal guilds _will_ cover for Anathema if doing so helps them and sometimes they need the information beaten from their lying lips."

"Criminals have guilds? Like, a thieves guild?"

"Oh yeah, they're just not called something that obvious. The Goldenforge is a good example. They're the biggest counterfeiters out there."

"If you know this, why don't you just stop them?"

"It's not that easy. They have a lot of legal business as jewelers and even though we know they make counterfeit bills, most of their members aren't criminals. Also, they have a lot of money that isn't fake to buy off anyone asking too many questions."

It was never as easy as just finding the bad guys and stopping them. Well, it hadn't been before Ruby could cripple organizations. She just needed to know which ones to target and have someone to use as an anchor for the curse. That would be easy, but the number of problems that she could, and wanted to, solve this way was adding up so fast she'd spend all of her Aura and still not be finished.

"Then, why aren't you going after all of the other Anathema in Vale? I heard that three more have been sighted."

"Two reasons. The first is that we haven't finished negotiating with the Vale council, they seem to think that Atlas is enough, and the second is that Dōsatsu City is a major airship port. All sorts of information passes through here."

"So, do you know where the Beacon pair is?"

"You're not going to listen to reason, are you?"

"I need to find her and… do what needs to be done."

Ruby could feel the weight of Celeste's decision and budged it in the right direction. _Ruby Rose is not Anathema._

As the woman's Aura righted itself, she said, "After they caused the explosion on Mount Aitan, they were probably last seen in the Thistlebane Forest."

Why they blew up the side of a mountain wasn't first on Ruby's list of questions for Yang, but it was certainly up there. "Probably?"

"We've found six or seven distinct tracks leading into and out of the forest. If I were to bet, I'd say the reports of a blond Anathema arriving at the village in the middle was them, but… none of our scouts have returned since."

"I see." Ruby's ability to be ignored would help out there. If the Grimm had overrun it, she could just force them to be calm while she passed through. If Blake and Yang had actually taken over a town instead of people freaking out when they passed through… Well, she'd deal with that when the time came. "Though, can we talk about something else? Something happier?"

Celeste pursed her lips, clearly considering saying something else. _Ruby shoved Celeste's Aura to force her into agreement._ "How about pie?"

"Pie?"

"Forest bakes a different pie every time I go to the field as another incentive to come back home safe. I think you deserve a slice considering how much you helped." The older woman grinned. "On one condition."

"What's that?"

"You need to give him a full review of the flavor and tell me what you did to finish the Boarbutusk."

Ruby opened her mouth, but didn't say anything. How was she supposed to explain that she grabbed a hold of the Grimm's future and tore enough out to kill it right now? Then the perfect answer hit her. "Wait, that's two conditions!"

Celeste smiled and stepped further into the house, giving Ruby enough time to think up a good enough description of the technique. All it did was tear off the remaining destiny for her target, but there was no accurate way of explaining how that worked. The pie was also delicious, though not quite sweet enough for Ruby's tastes.

She accepted the offer of a bed in the guest room. Though, it was a little weird that all of Celeste's kids were staying at friends houses even though Celeste shouldn't think Ruby was Anathema anymore.

It was a real shame that Celeste was part of the Mistral Hunters. If she'd been with Vale, Ruby wouldn't have to do anything more and her city would still be safe. In Vale, the investigations were separated from normal duties and people were members of different organizations, so Ruby could curse one without hitting the ability of the other to function. In Mistral, that wasn't the case. Dōsatsu City was going to be down two Hunters until it was safe to release the curses, along with every other city Celeste's guild worked in.

It… should be okay for them to be weakened for now because Blake and Yang were less than a week away. All she needed to do was find them and then she could remove the curses.

But they were awfully good at not being found.

So, in the morning, Ruby sent an email to Haven Academy which let them know that the Titan's Fist Guild would be affected like Vale was, just in case. With that handled, she was off.


	2. Chapter 1-2

Weiss closed the document which was both the solution to one of her current headaches and the cause of another. Ruby was the priority target for the Atlas military and as an adviser, Weiss needed to help them find her. By a stroke of fortune, or unexpected guile on Ruby's part, that job was so difficult that she hadn't managed to be certain of who to go after until now.

The Atlas military had, correctly, assumed that Ruby would try to follow Yang and, despite the obvious conflict of interest, she'd been tasked with finding Ruby Rose. According to the kingdom of Vale's birth records, there were one hundred and sixty seven people with the name Ruby Rose. Of those, twelve were confirmed as having an awakened Aura via combat school admissions, martial arts competitions, and, in three cases, a criminal record. What should be been a simple announcement of name and description, followed by a Hunt, was made infinitely more complicated because there seemed to be eighteen different Ruby Roses with Auras seen in eastern Vale over the past few months. Records may be incomplete regarding the outlying town and cities, but they would never be that bad!

To make matters worse, each of the women was clearly identifiable and memorable to all of the people she interacted with and the most noticeable trait of Ruby's was her inability to be remembered. Those that Weiss had pictures of also, despite looking similar to Ruby, each had a different body type and eye colors. The idea that one girl could have so many look-alikes was ridiculous, even disregarding the bandits who were using her name and red cloak to scare weaker Hunters into compliance.

To disguise oneself so well, but never use a false name, would be the height of idiocy. And yet, it was what seemed to have happened. The only blessing her partner had was that the rest of the analysts thought the theory that all of them were her was too stupid to actually be true and were still chasing after other potentials like her using her memory affecting abilities to delude people who looked the same into believing themselves to be her.

The decision paralysis and arguments circled endlessly... until yesterday morning.

A Mistral Huntress had sent Beacon a request for the records of a Ruby Rose who just graduated. She was described as a highly skilled Huntress who was using abilities far beyond what someone her age should have and also invented an entirely new martial art. More importantly, she knew specifics about the curse on Vale that had not been widely discussed. The next day, that same Huntress went quiet as the curse against Anathema investigations spread to her entire guild. Haven Academy received information about the curse existing that same morning from an anonymous email address.

Before anyone could follow up on the report, Ruby vanished into a no-go zone with a very muddy history. It would have been the best chance they had of catching her; however, no one would be able to follow until they had enough Specialists on site to overpower not only Ruby, but also whatever was taking out the scouts. Entire teams of Aura wielders vanishing without a trace normally meant a greater Grimm or Anathema was involved and it wouldn't be the first time that region was found harboring one.

There was something about small towns off of the CCT grid that made them especially prone to either being taken over by Anathema or destroyed by the Grimm. Weiss didn't really understand why people chose to live like that, but inevitably some did.

She grumbled under her breath and switched from that report to the one on Blake and Yang. It wouldn't do her any good getting frustrated by a lack of information or community foolishness… Not that this one was much better.

Though she already knew the result wouldn't be useful, Weiss still re-ran the tracking algorithm she'd been given, and quickly improved upon. It said that Yang was most likely in Atlas City; yesterday it'd been East Vacuo. "Useless."

It had taken all of her gifts, and limited knowledge of what had occurred before the Exalted became Anathema, to figure out that the ramshackle structures leading both to and from the site of the great, green explosion were most likely theirs. Unless Atlas intelligence had been fooled for years, the four of them were the most developed Exalted right now. The blast was too large for a new one; the size had been similar to the last time a Dust freighter went up, but it occurred in a forest instead of the middle of the ocean.

Everyone important in Atlas wanted to know how it happened? The new types of Anathema were the first choices for blame given the color. It was what lead her to them because Ruby's own goddess had shown her just how far reaching her attacks could be last semester when she casually destroyed all of the Grimm for tens of miles.

The click of heels stopped outside of her open door. Weiss looked up to see Coco Adel leaning on the side of the frame. She rapped on the door with the back of her hand. "Got a sec?"

"The door's open." Weiss shrugged. "And even if you aren't one of my students, it is office hours."

"Yeah." She drew the word out and she looked around the office. It was setup in a meticulously organized manner with her research space on one side and desk on the other. "Nice digs, but… How? Why?"

Weiss raised an eyebrow.

"You're a freshmen. How did _you_ wind up the TA for junior level Sorcery?"

Professor Ozpin needed some excuse to give her an office with an encrypted connection. It also just so happened to be right next to Professor Goodwitch's and they shared a very thin wall. Thin enough that she could hear into the Professor's office with a slight amount of focus.

"I passed the exit exam for combat Sorcery over winter break."

"Uh huh?" Coco crossed her arms. "Come on, Schnee. This isn't the first time I've seen someone get a position they logically shouldn't have. What is it? Was your dad trying to get in good with Beacon so he sent them a bunch of free Dust?"

Weiss glanced at the door as she turned some soft music on. Coco closed it, stepped up to the desk, and waited. The music was an incredibly obvious privacy aid, but there were enough more innocuous explanations that she could arrange for why they'd want to do that.

 _She focused her Essence on her hearing and opened her ears to a spectrum of sounds that no human, and few Faunus, could hear._ Some music was overwhelming when she did this, but she'd found a particular song that solely existed in normal frequencies. Right behind it was the sound of a computer running in Professor Goodwitch's office, along with the telltale hum of a microphone that she knew was pointed at her own.

"He was not involved; it was something else."

"Obviously."

"But before I can explain more, can you answer two questions for me?"

"That all depends on what you're asking."

"When was the last time a member of your family was caught helping an Anathema? And, what do you, knowing what you know now, think about it?"

Coco froze. Weiss couldn't see her eyes through the sunglasses, but she was certain that they were darting all around the room, trying to make sense of why she would ask that. "That's a very dangerous question."

"I'm playing a very dangerous game." Weiss folded her hands on her lap and waited while Coco squirmed. Not physically, of course, but Weiss could make out the tension in her brow and the way that her normally relaxed posture had gone rigid.

It was a perfect set of questions, for Weiss, because she didn't care about the exact answers. It was the explanation, more than anything else, that Weiss needed. That would allow her to know whether she could extend more information to someone else who knew some of the truth about the Anathema.

"I don't suppose you'll accept waiting for a better time." Coco glanced at the door and window, the drapes were always closed when Weiss was working.

"You don't have to be too specific." Weiss focused her Essence on her words and inserted another meaning inside of them. ' _We can always speak more privately later.'_

Coco licked her lips before speaking. "It was a second cousin on my dad's side. An Anathema appeared at her bussines school. She was with the girl when…"

Coco paused, holding Weiss in her gaze. "When whatever happens when an Anathema becomes one happened. They were at a private house and blamed one of the staff, whose body they turned in."

"The Hunter investigating bought that?"

"He bought the hundred thousand lien 'gift' of fine liquor and an introduction to the chief of security at her father's company."

"Amaranth Isle?"

"South beach."

Weiss nodded. It was a small island off the western coast of Mistral known for the beautiful, namesake colored beaches and also being the capital of corporate crime, where everyone and everything had a price.

"Anyway, they didn't stay hidden for long. My cousin traded stocks at twenty percent above market rate for the next month thanks to the Anathema's tips. Her other friends sold her out as soon as the normal Hunters came calling."

Weiss was sorely tempted to comment on how stupid that was, but that would reveal too much of her own hand. "And what did you think of all of that?"

Coco paused for a long while, but Weiss was happy to wait. "The words that best describe her are immoral, _heedless_ , and moron."

"I agree." Weiss waited a moment, making sure to slip the right intonation into her sentence. "Each word very accurately describes not only working with an Anathema _like that_ , but also killing one of her own servants to hide her crimes."

Coco nodded, still tense. "She'd always been… ambitious and willing to do whatever it took to win, but I never would've expected that."

"Coco, have you ever been to the Paramessian? I was thinking of taking Pyrrha there on Saturday." Bringing Coco and Pyrrha to a high class cafe wouldn't cause a stir, unlike the last time she wanted to have a secretive meeting in Vale. While her teammates may be the most individually potent people on Remnant, high-class they were not.

She licked her lips. "I have missed their eclairs. A trip to the city would be wonderful."

"Excellent." Weiss grinned, that had been easier than she expected. Though, she ought to find others who weren't members of high-society to recruit as well.

"Is that all?"

"Well…" Weiss leaned back and forth. "There is one more thing. We need a plausible enough lie for"- she waved a hand at the room -"All of this."

"You need a reason to invite a girl into your office and put on dance music for her?"

"Only if she accepts the offer."

"Hmm…" Coco smirked. "I'm flattered, but not interested. Though… I think I can manage something."

"Very well, I'll trust your judgement." While Coco would undoubtedly do something to try and get back at Weiss, she would be trusting her with far more soon enough.

"Come this way." Coco sauntered over to the door, purposefully throwing as much hip into her walk as she could.

Weiss followed with a roll of the eyes, compared to Yang, this was only moderately distracting. "What will you-"

The door slid open at the same moment that Coco slapped her right on the ass, loud enough to clap even through her skirt. The tall girl growled far too huskily for Weiss to remain calm. "Don't be late this weekend."

"I- Why you!" Weiss yelped as she pushed the blush down.

"Haha, never change, Schnee."

* * *

Nora rolled from her heels to her toes and took a deep breath. This wasn't going to be a hard talk, or even a really out there one, but it still made her sweat, made her heart race. If… if this worked out, then there would be so much she could do. She'd be safe again! Well, maybe not completely safe, but as long as she was around, then Ren, Jaune, and Pyrrha would be.

"Pyrrha…" she whispered to herself.

Maybe that was the cause of all of her jitters. If Pyrrha wasn't still hung up over Jaune, Nora would swear that she'd been seduced. Not that Nora would really blame her if that was the case, but it wouldn't make any sort of sense. Weiss may be open to stuff… and things... considering the Anathema brainwashing she'd gone through, but Nora was pretty sure that Pyrrha wasn't.

Then again… Nora shook her head and swayed back and forth. She also didn't _know_ what Pyrrha's feelings on that topic were and… And she was stalling. Though, the door was still closed, which meant she was probably really busy and-

It suddenly opened as a red haired boy stepped out.

"Thanks, that spell makes so much more sense now." He waved behind himself, sparing Nora a quick smile as he walked away.

"Just remember, you need a five to three to one Air, Ice, and Lightning Dust mixture for the best result," Weiss said just loudly enough for her voice to echo in the hall. Then, she continued, much softer, "You can come in Nora."

Nora snapped her head around the door. "How did you know it was me?"

"I could hear you speaking to yourself. Is something wrong?" Weiss smiled and waved a hand at the seats in front of her desk.

"Well, you see." Nora kicked the door closed on the way to the chair. She sat down and leaned forward, fingers gripping the edge of the skirt. "There's been a lot of stuff going on lately, ever since we got back from break I haven't been able to focus on classes.

"I just keep thinking about last semester and remembering how I…" Nora paused. Weiss nodded and waited for her to collected her thoughts. "Anyway, I wound up thinking a lot about what exactly I was going to do next year. Then I talked to Ren about what he was doing and that's when I realized something really bad."

Weiss nodded again, meeting Nora's eyes.

"We, that is team JNPR, can kick a lot of butt in all sorts of ways: Ren's practically a martial arts ninja; Pyrrha's, well, Pyrrha; I can bench five of me; and Jaune is… was… getting better. At least before his head swelled from his newfound hero-ness." Nora grimaced. "To be honest it's getting a bit annoying that people are fawning over him like that when he's barely trying to catch up to the rest of us."

"Do you want me to help find him a tutor?"

"No." Nora shook her head wildly. "Well, maybe… probably... Actually, that's not a bad idea, but it's not what I wanted to talk to you about."

Weiss nodded again.

"You see, you're one of the smartest people I know and also a good friend, even if you sort of got seduced by evil demons before, and well… now you'll know what to watch out for next time. And I'm not sure how you wound up teaching Sorcery, but that means you really know all the advanced stuff, like how to shoot a ball of molten lava out of your finger." Nora pointed at the wall holding her hand like a gun. "That would be awesome! Anyway speaking of fire, do you remember that first fight with the Anathema lady, not Blake and Yang… The one in the red dress, down at the docks? You know, the one with dark hair and the freaky eyes... that wasn't Ruby."

"Nora, are you going somewhere with this?" There was a twinkle in Weiss' eyes that sent a shiver down Nora's spine.

"Well…" Nora thought about how that fight went, how much she didn't get done, and how they all became so vulnerable so easily. "She did something to us in that fight, something that I'm still not really sure how it worked, but you were the only one who was able to fight back. If it wasn't for you, all of us would be dead."

Weiss slid her chair over to a bookshelf and pulled out a thin book. It was plain, bound in old leather, and missing a title. "That particular spell poses a normally unsolvable riddle to everyone nearby. The true answer can't be taught because it's different for each person. But, if you want to practice and learn more about those riddles, this is a good book. Each page provides a different concept to think about."

Nora took it and flipped to the first page. It was almost entirely blank. "The student asks of his old master, 'How does one win against an opponent stronger than himself?' The master replies 'By not being weaker.'"

She thought about it for a moment. "That doesn't make any sense. How can you not be weaker than someone stronger than you? I guess you could say, by using your Semblance to become stronger, but that doesn't feel right."

"What does feel right about it?"

Nora stared at the book and took a deep breath. This was the sort of stuff the masters of the more spiritual martial arts schools asked. She'd never been any good at them before, but now she was older, more experienced, and… that was it! "By being smarter than them. Strength isn't real strength if you use it at the wrong time. Is that right?"

"Yes."

"Whew, okay. That's sort of neat, but I wasn't really looking for a way to beat that spell. I want to beat all of them!"

Weiss raised an eyebrow and smiled.

"Can you teach me how to do Sorcery?"

The smile turned into a smirk with a nod. "Beacon has classes for that. The entirety of sophomore year is normally dedicated to it for those who want to learn."

"Right, but you're super smart and already know how to do it. So, I figured you'd be able to show me how to get started. Do you just start taking control of Dust? And then, like, turn it into other stuff?"

Weiss shook her head and waved a hand. "It isn't as simple as that. There is no single way to teach anyone Sorcery, but everyone can learn it."

"Is this another one of those riddles?"

"Not quite. The path to enlightenment is different for everyone and very personal. It also isn't easy."

"If it lets me keep everyone else safe, then I'll do it. No matter how hard it is."

"That's a good attitude to start with." Weiss pulled out another book and flipped to the second page. A diamond was drawn on the page, with each corner being a picture. Each of the corners also connected to the center, which had a picture of its own. "There are five ordeals that every Sorcerer must pass through."

Nora slammed a fist onto her armrest. "Bring it!"

"I actually suspect, given what you and Ren have been through, that you've already cleared two of the ordeals."

"Okay, so what's next?"

Weiss pointed at the small book again. "Tell me the answer to the question on page forty-nine."

Nora flipped to the end. After a moment of thought, she opened her mouth and raised a finger. There was something blatantly wrong about what Weiss wanted her to do. "There're only forty-eight pages."

"There are patterns in all aspects of the world and you have already experienced a great deal more than most of our peers. This book was written by one who had gone on such a journey, through similar areas, and wished to recount all that she had learned. By finding your own meaning within her's, your own path will become obvious."

"That sounds like... a lot of mystical mumbo-jumbo that doesn't really mean anything. Can't I just study a normal book or sit in a lecture?"

Weiss held up a hand and formed an Aura of white light around it. With every second that passed, it grew brighter. "If you merely wanted to launch streams of lava, then there are plenty of simpler options. To be a Sorcerer means that you understand, at an instinctive level, the way different aspects of the world correspond to others. Once you can do that-"

She cut herself off with a flash of light. Nora glanced back and forth trying to figure out what happened, then noticed the snowflakes falling from the ceiling.

"-you'll be able to reshape them to your own design."

Nora gulped as her eyes darted from snowflake to snowflake. "Ohh…"

Weiss pulled Fire Dust around her hand, and with a wave of her fingers, all of them burned away in a flash. "There are other, more esoteric, flavors of energy as well. You'll need to become familiar with them too."

"Okay." Nora nodded and considered what else there could be. "So, what other types are there? Happiness? Terror? Friendship?"

"I'm working on a spell that utilizes the Essence of Serenity to send visions via sympathetic connections."

"Uhh..."

"It will let me speak with people in their dreams by using the invisible connection that all beings share."

"Gotcha... will you be able to send whatever you want in it?"

"The goal is to send every type of sensory input by crafting a specific dream to be received."

Nora nodded. That could be really cool… or even more naughty, though a lady like Weiss probably wouldn't do that to people. "Alright. Why would you make something like that?"

"Think of the potential for sending messages to Hunters in the field. Many stay outside of regions where their scrolls have reception. This would allow them to stay in continuous communication. All of the other, similar, spells have some limitations that make them unsuitable for my purposes." Weiss held up a hand, counting off one by one. "They either have a limit to the amount of information, are insecure, rely on unusual circumstances to deliver the message, or have a very limited range."

Nora nodded, even though she didn't really get it.

"However, all of that can come after you have a greater understanding of the basics."

"Right…" Nora put the book in her lap. "So, once I figure out your riddle, what else would I need to do?"

"You perform your own maintenance on Magnhild, don't you?"

"Yep! It'd have broken a _long_ time ago if I didn't know how to."

"In that case, your knowledge of how Dust interacts with other materials should be good enough." Weiss pulled a second book free, placing it in front of Nora. "This covers many of the more unusual interactions along with what other energies exist and how they're associated. Old rituals are also covered, but those tend to be impractical."

"Okay…" Nora poked at the book which was as thick as a normal textbook. "Am I going to need to know all of those too?"

"Yes. Though they may not be useful anymore, they still teach you about how a spell could be formulated."

Nora gulped. "All right."

"Once you have the knowledge, you'll need to complete the other ordeals. Most of them should not be too difficult, but the final test is the harshest."

Nora nodded, last was always hardest. "Lay it on me."

Weiss' eyes went cold. "Sacrifice."

"What?"

"It is not enough to wish to learn Sorcery, you must give up part of yourself in the process of acquiring the privilege to utilize it."

"Ahh." Nora glanced down at her hands. "So, like, a hand or something? Wait, no, you still have both of those."

"Losing a hand would be appropriate, if its use means that much to you. However, many instead will sacrifice more immaterial items: their beliefs, their relationships, their innocence."

"What'd you give up?"

Weiss closed her eyes and bowed her head. "It was all of them, but primarily the third. As I sought knowledge that had been hidden from me, I saw the truth about the way that my father's company operated; as my own innocence regarding the abuses was torn away, so too was the veil between my soul and the rest of the world."

"Do… Do you have any idea what mine might be?" Nora couldn't keep her eyes focused on her. It was like back in the cafeteria again, right before Weiss was investigated. "Yours sounds like it must've hurt a lot, but also like it was probably a good thing in the end?"

"It probably was, though I didn't think so at the time." Weiss stood up, the field of terror vanishing, and offered Nora a hand. "Unfortunately, I can't tell you what your sacrifice may be, all I can do is make sure that you approach this with full knowledge of what it entails. In order to acquire the power you seek, you must give up a piece of the being that is currently Nora and forge yourself into someone greater.

"With that in mind. Do you still wish to walk this path?"

Nora thought about it for almost a minute. She was… No, not just her. Everyone was entirely vulnerable to this power. It was something that she didn't understand and, from what Weiss was saying, couldn't understand until she had it herself. And to get it, she'd need to become a difference person…

That happened once before…

When the Anathema took over her village and called on them to train, some of who she was was lost. She had to give up all of her dreams in service to the cause. But, she came out of that stronger. When she was a member of the town guards, she had food, respect, and a future. It may not have been the dream of secretly being a princess, but it was more than she'd ever known before.

But that hadn't been her choice. She had a strong Aura, so she needed to join the guard. There were no other questions asked.

This was her own choice. If she wanted to do this, then it would be her own hands that tore the piece of herself away.

Nora opened her eyes and grabbed Weiss' hand. "Yeah, I do."

Weiss smiled and pulled her up. "Then get studying. You have the drive and the talent. Though, you may wish to speak with Pyrrha while you're looking into this."

"Why's that?"

"She knows a great deal about the other connections you'll need to learn and also has gone over similar riddles herself."

"Is she trying to learn Sorcery too?"

"No, but she has been working on a sister field."

"Is that why she and Ren have been talking and practicing so much?"

"In part, yes. Both of them can learn a lot of each other and as a team, you can all grow together."

"Thanks, Weiss." Nora smiled. "I'll get started… Right after lunch."


	3. Chapter 1-3

Ruby rubbed her eyes until they started hurting and then opened them again. What she was looking at stayed the same.

The 'town' in the middle of the forest was anything but; even though it was technically the right size, towns didn't have gigantic Dust-powered towers that shot lightning at Nevermore flying too close. It was a defensive weapon that Ruby'd never heard of before and she'd looked up _a lot_ of different weapons when designing Crescent Rose. That meant some new technology popping up from nowhere, but Yang had never seemed like the type to do that.

Then again, she did make Ember Celica, tuned Bumblebee by herself, and it had been months seen Ruby saw her. If Ruby could learn how to dream up new knowledge, Yang could figure out how to build a lightning tower. Actually, Blake probably could too, even if she was starting out with less knowledge.

Ruby swapped the Destiny laying on her shoulders, becoming Ruby Rose, Aura Researcher. A wandering Huntress wouldn't exactly be the best choice of identity to walk into an Anathema's town with, even one owned by her teammates. Come to think of it, would they be able to tell who she was? No one else had been able to recognize her identities being basically the same person, even if she used two different ones right in front of them... Hopefully Blake and Yang would be different.

She had to swerve around a number of potholes or fallen branches as she rode. Even though the tower was incredible, the regular roads and houses were desperately in need of work. The outskirts looked just like her hometown in Patch after a bad winter. Which was… really strange. Towns outside of the kingdoms needed some sort of natural defense or heavy fortification, but this one had nothing besides that tower and the unnatural energy flowing from it.

Normally, people lived where there wasn't a lot of hidden power, but this location was at the intersection of a number of different flows. The air was not happy about the heavy, metaphysical wind. Each of its enormous spines dotting the top of the tower added another note to the horrible song that left the entire region sounding muffled, like it was coated in grime. The only real comparison Ruby could make was that it felt as dirty compared to normal air as normal air did to Yu-Shan's.

The people were about as friendly as the angry, gnarled trees that loomed over them. They let her in without any questions, not that they really could have stopped her with no gate, but she certainly didn't feel welcome. She caught someone's eyes peering out of almost every window and could easily hear them stepping outside to watch her as soon as she passed their houses.

She got to a block away from the tower before turning around and catching sight of a small boy. He'd jumped behind a trashcan as soon as she started moving, but his hair was poking out above the lid.

"I can see you." Ruby called out.

He almost stood up, but stopped when she could make out his eyebrows.

"Yes, you, with the red hair, hiding behind the can."

He slowly stood up, so tense he was shaking.

"I don't bite."

"What'd…" He mumbled into the ground. "What'd you want?"

Ruby grimaced, but tried to sound calm and happy. "Hi there, I'm Ruby. I was just wondering who built this... nice tower."

"No one!" He shouted, then back away and covered his mouth. "I mean, no one built it. We've always had it."

"Uh huh." Ruby crossed her arms and waiting for another bolt to shoot out. "And has it always done that?"

The boy paused, looking up at it. After a long wait, he said, "Yes."

"Right." Ruby dragged the word out way too long, but the implication went over his head. "Umm, this is obviously not a normal tower."

She could feel the weight of his decision pressing against the world _and gently pushed it so that he would tell her._

"It… I'm not supposed to go near it unless the monsters come and… She wasn't supposed to either, but then she made it better."

"Who wasn't?" Ruby stepped off of the bike and slowly walked toward him.

"That… the lady who… brought the animal with her." The boy stammered, sniffling and shuddering while he looked at the houses surrounding them.

"Animal?"

"The other girl with the ears."

"You mean a Faunus?"

The boy stared at her for a moment before cringing away again. "Oh, yeah. That."

"Can you tell me where they are?" Ruby said softly, smiling down at him despite how much she really wanted to correct him. It wasn't his fault that whoever was teaching him was a terrible person.

He opened his mouth and was about to speak when a man shouted, "Leave the boy alone you witch!"

Ruby glanced over her shoulder at person who just interrupted them. He was old, with completely white hair, and his Aura was weak. Normally, he wouldn't be any sort of threat, but the sword on his belt sang with everything she needed to know. It's nauseating, discordant melody made her blood run hot.

The horrible metal which almost ended her life in the fight with Professor Goodwitch. The metal made from souls that drank any Aura it touched. In its screeching, she could make out a man begging to see his children again.

Ruby looked over her shoulder, voice much colder. "Are you going to answer my questions then?"

"I ain't answering nothing for your type." His hand flickered toward the sword, but he didn't touch it. "And neither is he."

The man looked at the boy and moved his head toward a house. "Get outta here you."

He started scampering away. Ruby didn't stop him. Instead she turned to the older man and laid a hand on Crescent Rose.

"Who was the 'she' that he was about to tell me about?"

"No one. The boy's an idiot. Doesn't know what he's talking about." The man eyed Crescent Rose, but kept his hand away from his own weapon.

Ruby looked at the base of the tower. "Then you won't have any problem with me taking a look at the tower, will you."

This time he grabbed his sword. "It is forbidden for anyone to go in there."

Ruby looked at him, then to the tower, and then back to him. "The kid said you go in then the Grimm show up and I've done a lot of forbidden things. What's one spooky tower?"

"You'll doom us all!" He shouted. "Get your supplies, fuel up your bike, and leave. We don't want or need your kind here."

"What do you think I am?"

"Huntress." He spat on the ground.

He was technically right, but… "Actually, I'm a researcher, not a Huntress."

"Even worse."

"What?"

"A Huntress would at least kill some of the damned Grimm. You 'researchers' just come in, grab whatever you think is 'valuable', and then leave without making us any better off for all of the mess you've made."

Ruby took a deep breath and _considered the possible paths this conversation could take. There were a number of interesting branches, but she settled on the one that would lead to the least arguing and pain for everyone._ "What do you think about the Anathema?"

To his credit, the shock lasted for barely a second. "Demons, all of'em."

"So, do you know what happened to the blonde Anathema seen coming into the forest? Or any of the scouts that followed her?"

He squeezed his lips shut so hard they turned white.

"I would have noticed if she was out here."

"I thought you said you weren't a Huntress."

"I'm not." Ruby tapped Crescent Rose.

"Uhhh." The man gulped.

"All I want to do is talk to her."

"Th- There's no one like that here." He stomped as other adults started coming out of their houses.

"A town like this wouldn't be able to protect itself. The forest has barely any defensive terrain and the town itself has no fortifications." Ruby glanced away from him briefly, looking at all of the eyes staring at her. "There're more than enough people to draw the Grimm, but you're still here."

"We're a hardy folk, not like you who hide behind walls."

"The boy said that you hide from them in the tower. Who built it?"

"It was made by our ancestors to protect us when you wouldn't! If you keep up this talk of defiling it by going inside..." He unsheathed an inch of blackened steel. "Well, we've dealt with your kind before."

"Don't make a mistake like that." Ruby listened to the others who were coming out of their houses now. Four of them were carrying weapons made of the same material, but none had an Aura even as strong as the worst students at Beacon.

"Please, just leave us be." A heavyset woman aimed a shotgun at Ruby's head. Her Aura was also incredibly weak. "We don't want anymore trouble."

Ruby took a deep breath. She needed to try something else. "Has news of what happened at Beacon reached this far out?"

The crowd paused, glancing at each other. At they murmured, a wind from the tower blew through them.

"What does she mean?"

"The big fight?"

"You went to the city last month."

"I never heard anything."

"Wasn't a Hunter killed in that?"

"We'll be killed if she stays."

"Do you think she's?"

"No, she couldn't be."

"She'll take our savior away from us, just like that poor man was."

"That girl was supposed to be a monster, seven feet tall and wielding a giant scythe."

"They say her hands were dyed red with blood."

"She's wearing a lot of red."

"She'll kill all of us."

"Who?"

"Who's blood?"

"The students she killed."

"The Girl in Red."

All eyes turned back to her and her red cloak fluttering in the wind. The branches of the trees scraped against each other like rustling paper and nails on chalk boards. As the wind moved, it swept through each person, hardening their expressions.

She needed something to counteract whatever that was.

"Please." Ruby interrupted their whispers, grasping a destiny of the Gauntlet in her free hand. It was Ruby Rose, Warrior of Truth, but she could draw on the power now if she needed to. "I just want to talk to her. There's no reason that anything bad would-"

Ruby exploded into a cloud of rose petals as a shot was fired at her. She reformed on top of a porch, shrugging off her current identity. With a flick of one hand, Crescent Rose deployed. Her beak bit through the tiles with a sickening crack. At the same time, Ruby released the energy of the gauntlet and pulsed her Aura hard enough to make the symbol appear, lighting up their faces with a scarlet glow.

The blood drained from the face of the man who tried to shoot her. His hands trembled, clutching his gun so hard that she could make out where he'd broken his fingers before by the way the poorly set bone pressed against his skin.

Ruby locked eyes with him and forced herself not to blink. _She tore the destiny to pieces, unleashing the power that had been bound up for months._ Its pieces swirled around her as she pushed even more power from her Aura. When her energy erupted, it pushed the wind back and blew away some of what was sitting on the people. "Tell me where my sister is."

The last time she'd done this, it worked on Professor Ozpin. These people were nowhere near as strong. Weapons clattered to the ground, people ran, and Ruby really wished her sense of smell wasn't as good as it was.

The man she'd focused on didn't more. His breathing grew faster and faster until he was practically panting. He raised a finger slowly and pointed at the tower. "S-She's underneath, in the catacombs."

That was another thing that normal towns didn't have.

"Show me where the entrance is."

What remained of the crowd parted for them as they moved, scattering with a lurch whenever a rose petal drifted nearby. Ruby kept her eyes ahead and her face tense. It didn't take long for them to reach a giant metal circle in the ground.

"They went in there." The man grabbed a long rod with a single hand bend from a nearby barrel. The bit at the end looked like a very strange screw. "The Anathema and her beast should be deep inside."

"Don't call her that."

"W-What?"

"Beast." Ruby could forgive a kid for doing that, but not someone old enough to know better.

"Uhhhhhhh…" The rod shook in his hands. "The Faunus then."

"You don't even know her name, do you?"

"N-no."

Ruby wasn't surprised. When she looked at his eyes again, he flinched away. "How do you open it?"

"L-Like this." The man carefully stepped up to the disk and screwed the rod into the side. After it stopped, he leaned into the handle, walking a circle around it instead of just using his arms.

Ruby leaned over as slightly stale air rushed out. The drop was fairly short, she wouldn't need to use the ladder at all. "How you do re-open it?"

"There's a crank inside that's a lot easier to manage."

"Show me."

"What?"

"We're both going down there and you're going to show me how to get out."

He glanced back at the crowd. Ruby tapped her foot. He slunk over to the edge and carefully started going down the ladder. When he was at the bottom and had moved back, Ruby stepped off the edge.

The man yelped, falling on his butt when she landed. He scrambled to his feet, clutching his chest.

"It's right there." He pointed to a large crank that dominated the wall.

Ruby grabbed it with one hand and started turning. The mechanism had good gearing because it wasn't hard to move. Though, from his reaction, she might just be that much stronger than him.

The disk slowly rotated back into place, leaving them with only the light of her Aura to see. Drops of sweat ran down the man's face, only being knocked off by how much he was shaking. He didn't say anything, but the look in his eyes was that of a cornered animal.

When she opened it back up, he kept glancing back to the top.

"You can go, but make sure my bike's safe."

He nodded rapidly, then scampered back up the ladder, taking the rungs two at a time.

As soon as he was out of sight, Ruby slumped against the wall and wiped her eyes. It was easier being hated. There were plenty of reasons to hate her now and if someone was mad at her, she could explain herself or fight back.

She couldn't do anything about people being afraid.

* * *

Ruby advanced through the catacombs with the red light that only she could see active. The walls were made of dark stone bricks that were fit so close together that she couldn't see the seams. They were dotted with large alcoves, each group spaced three high. There were plenty of coffins stored in them, but the most frequent items were things the living needed.

Dried food, books, jugs of water, and Dust canisters: some of these were stored in every one. A number of bedrolls and mattresses were also laid out, though it would be more than a little creepy to sleep where someone would eventually put a dead body. Then again, if you were already living in a catacomb, maybe that wouldn't be too bad.

It would've given her goosebumps even without the awful feeling energy infusing the hallway. The wind was stronger and it felt like it left a layer of grease behind wherever it blew, even though nothing physical was actually there. It was bad enough that not even the invisible Grimm flies that she could only see when she used this ability were present.

If something was so bad the Grimm didn't want to be around it, she knew that it shouldn't exist.

As she continued, the signs of living people were replaced with more and more coffins, some of them broken open. On occasion, the paths branched, but she always continued along the side with the strongest flow.

It was quiet as she continued, far too quiet. When she was growing up, there were always animals out in the woods. Ruby fell asleep to the sounds of crickets and the occasional car. At Beacon, she had the soft hum of lights and machines. Also all of the people who were constantly moving around.

In these tunnels, the only sounds were those she caused. The scuff of rubber against stone with each step, the rustle of her cloak as each movement made it billow, and her own heartbeat pounding in her ears.

What was she going to say to Blake and Yang? Would they even want to talk to her?

Ruby thought back to the train and the look of horror, of betrayal, on Yang's face. They didn't exactly part on the best terms and… It would be sort of hard to explain everything she'd been doing to help them… Assuming they'd even noticed.

What would they think of that?

She didn't know.

The path continued spiraling in and down while Ruby looked to the future about what she could do. _The best result was continuing forward and being honest._ That was good.

Eventually, the coffins were replaced by bodies in wrapping and other tools started appearing. Several tiles were marked off with different colors at random. Ruby didn't need to guess what the code was: white checkmarks and purple skulls. Or… were they blue skulls? The red light might make sense with tha-

 _Ruby stepped between the strands of the world as danger came from to the left._ When she reappeared, there was a scorch mark where she'd been. The sharp smell of air that had just been electrified and the echo of a loud crack was all of the evidence she had regarding what happened.

With a sigh, Ruby continued, making sure to be a lot more careful where she stepped. Even though she could easily afford to do that over and over until she reached the end, glowing so brightly that no one could look her in the eye would make talking awkward.

Soon enough, the sounds of rock being scraped reached her. It echoed again and again, quick and precise. Ruby moved faster, using her Semblance to practically fly through the air by turning into rose petals between each step. When she saw the light ahead, she dove for it.

 _An incredible amount of danger was dodged by stepping outside of the world once more._ Ruby spared a glance back, almost twenty feet of hallway had been blackened by the lightning strikes. But that didn't matter to her anymore. She could hear them, just barely. Over the cracks of lightning she could make out someone complaining about rats.

Yeah, traps like these would kill any animals that made it in here.

She ended at the top of a gigantic staircase. It dropped very quickly, each step about twice as tall as it was wide, and at the bottom was a person with long blonde hair. She was crouched over a rune circle on the floor. She growled at the lettering as she formed a new line with a chisel, throwing bright yellow sparks that she ignored as they hit bare skin. "Why isn't it working?"

"Yang!" Ruby shouted, her voice echoing in the giant chamber.

Her feathery wings had vanished from her back, but her hair was more alive than ever before. The ends coiled around her tools, writhing as they lifted them into the air. But, when the blond snapped her head around as she heard Ruby's voice, brilliant green eyes met Ruby's. They burned with a dark fire, lighting up a face that could have been a porcelain doll.

Ruby's breath caught in her throat.

"You…" She gasped. "You aren't my sister."


	4. Chapter 1-4

Yang locked her targets in sight as she leaned over the edge of her tower, fingers ready to spring into action at a moment's notice. One hand was covered by Ember Cecilia; the other held only a simple pebble. This was it, the shot that would decide everything.

When the can of soda that she'd tossed hit the ground, she fired. The regular shot flew out exactly like a normal Dust round should, but she ignited the pebble with the fires of hell. _Sickly yellow-green flames surrounded the stone as it flew forward, tearing the air into shreds in its wake._

The pebble hit the tree with the force of a freight train, partially uprooting it as the trunk snapped in half and rocketed away. Seconds later, green cracks appeared around the hole the pebble bored into it, growing quickly, and then exploding; just like everything else did when Yang used hellfire, all without making that symbol appear on her forehead.

Yang sighed, there went that excitement. She didn't really want to get caught by Hunters again, but camping in the woods got dull real fast.

All of the fighting and running for her life had awoken something new in her soul. Her fire burned even hotter, as did the weight of everything she did. Every step she took, every word she spoke, every fire she lit: they all felt stronger, heavier, like she was forcing the world to bend to her will just by existing. She should be doing something with that! Well, beyond remaking their camp.

Their base had been an old, abandoned cabin. That was boring so she took it apart and turned it into a short tower that menaced with spikes of blackened iron. It also glowed with an eerie green light from the Dust generator inside, but that was just for dramatic effect.

She could admit, it wasn't the most practical, or spacious, place to live, but they needed a base while they practiced. Also, she'd run out of cabin before she could finish it and there wasn't enough spare metal to make a fourth floor without ruining the aesthetic. Which, surprisingly enough, was very important to making the ambient energy feel like her own Aura.

It also felt right to have a dark tower. She was an evil demon and damn did that thing look like something that a super villain would build. Though, she still didn't really know why it worked. Tialeth's memories guided her hands for most of the work even if they were-

 _She stood atop the prow of her ship as the ocean of lesser Raksha fell before the might of her new Lightning Ballista. Bolt after bolt was fired by her artillerymen, shattering the waves every time they rose up to rock the ship. Breaths with Flames, the Twilight of her circle, needed the ship to remain steady as he forged raw lightning from the energies around them and froze it in stasis._

 _She spared a glance at the bolts collected so far. They had five of the fifteen full arcs that needed to be at least ten feet in length according to his design. Perhaps if the Wyld Prince appeared, rather than hiding like a coward, she would have something interesting to kill. But, as it stood, the battle was like watching children play wargames._

 _A lance of magma erupted from the back of the Prince's largest warbeast. It arched through the air, the first real threat in the battle._

 _She spread her anima wide, the golden Essence forming a wall that prevented a single drop from landing on the deck. With a single swing of her blade, she cut through the path that the attack came from and ignited every piece of the beast's being with Solar fire._

 _Tialeth sighed as a Raksha's bolt pierced through the throat of one of her men. They would be here for at least five more hours._

Yang blinked and a burning tree replaced the burning body. Even as strong as she was, even with her now proven ability to reshape the world in her own image, she couldn't hold a candle to the might of the monster in her head. If she had power like that, then she wouldn't just let people die. She'd kill the Grimm, all of them… and then…

 _Take them all as your own._

"Shut it." She didn't know what was gonna happen, but it wasn't going to be that and… She just spoke to the demon, again.

"Dammit me, focus." She rubbed her temples and tried to catch her train of thought. Even though the difference between today and the beginning of the semester was ridiculous, impossible; she still had a ton more to learn. She was an unstoppable monster and the worst part was, it felt so right. She was so far beyond her classmates, her dad, and even her Uncle Qrow; but, the memories showed that there was so much further that she could go. She'd never plateau.

That was what Uncle Qrow called it, the point where no matter what you did, you couldn't get any stronger. Veteran Hunters sometimes found a trick to go further, but he'd been there ever since she was little.

That was part of the reason why she'd shot the pebble again and again and again for just over an hour. She needed to know exactly where she was, how much power she had now. All of the academies had machines to measure someone's Aura, but it wasn't like they'd be able to use one of them, so she had to figure out her own tests, just like science class at Signal.

It took a long time for anyone's Aura to recharge if they weren't in a fight, something about how the soul felt the adrenaline coursing through the body and brought out more power; ever since she became Anathema, Yang's came back a lot faster than it had before.

Something was making that aspect of her Aura even stronger beyond the energy flowing around her tower. That helped too, it was almost impossible to not notice how good being here felt.

She could feel little scraps of power, that _weren't_ flavored like her own, constantly whirling around, slowly sinking into her soul. None of them mattered all by itself, but combined, they made it so that she could fire seven pebbles before the mark appeared on her forehead, instead of six. It took forever, but she and Blake had nothing but time while they got closer to the South-Eastern coast.

"Blake…" Yang sighed and looked to the north. Blake had been gone for almost a week already and now Yang was so deep into her own head that she was almost hoping the demon would talk so she had something to distract her.

She waited for a moment; it didn't take the bait.

"Great, just great." Yang sighed and plopped down on a bench she'd acquired from an abandoned park. She brushed the bags of chips free and laid down, staring at the clouds. Without someone to nag her, their camp had become a mess.

She picked a strip of bark from her special food bag and bit down. It had a weird flavor, sort of like bubblegum. Nothing as good as the sweet berries from Western Vale that she'd kept around as long as she could, but it was still alright. She hadn't eaten real food in… Weeks? Months? Chips didn't count. Even after Blake figured out a way to get into cities, they needed to travel as light as possible, so Yang kept up with the weird stuff.

What would Ruby think if she saw this? What would she-

Yang snapped her head up and held herself as still as she could.

A new Aura had entered her domain along with another presence, both slowly approaching her. The first was weak, about as potent as a skilled Hunter, but there was something off about it. It felt more right than a normal person's and more wrong at the same time. The second was… a Grimm.

Yang held her pebble ready as they stepped around the bend in the road.

The Aura belonged to a very small woman. Black hair, brown eyes: Yang guessed Vacuan from her dark skin. She was either a pure martial artist or not a Huntress because she didn't have any weapons on her, except for the towering Alpha Beowolf that was meekly following at her side.

"Good afternoon, my Lady." The woman bowed her head slightly; so did the Beowolf. "Your territory is quite marvelous."

"What?" Yang stared at her. The pupils of the woman's eyes writhed with a shadowy energy. Then she glanced back at the tower. "Umm, thank you? But, I'm not a 'Lady' of any sort."

"My apologies. Is there another title that you hold?"

"I- No! What're you talking about?"

"You are one of the great ones. It is only proper to pay respect where it is owed." She smiled with one of those soft, 'don't worry I'm harmless' smiles that always signaled that knives were about to come out.

"I'm not that great."

"Ahh, but you are." The woman shook her head. "You and your companion hold the potential to reshape a world that has sorely mistreated you. You have been merciful in your dealing with _humanity_ so far, though they do not deserve such favors."

Yang tensed. This woman was just asking for a pebbling. "What are you talking about? I'm a monster that could destroy anything I wanted to. They've done exactly what they should've."

"Should those who would harm you not be destroyed? They sit safe in their cities, afraid of any power that they cannot control. That is why they fear your kind, that is why you are hunted, because they know that you are better." She scratched the Beowolf's head. "Please, do not denigrate yourself so. If you were to leave that hatred behind, then you would truly be free to pursue that which you desire."

Yang searched the woman's dress for any sign of animal parts. She was practically quoting Blake's warnings about the Silver Cult, a group of the White Fang that worshiped the Anathema. But… "You're not White Fang, are you?"

"No, I am not, though I do consider their cause admirable and their actions worthy of praise. They have done more to further the works of the Dark Mistress than any other in recent memory." She continued scritching the Grimm. "Tell me, have you heard of the Walkers in Darkness?"

Yang shook her head, trying not to cringe at the sight of a Beowolf acting like a puppy.

"We are purveyors of the old ways, the methods and techniques that were granted upon Mistral by the Dark Mistress before the Great War. We provided the backbone of Mistral's protection in that day, using our magic to control man's greatest foe and turn them to our own advantage." With a wave of her hand, the Beowolf rolled over like it was waiting for belly scratches. "And do you know what our loyalty was rewarded with?"

Yang shook her head again, though she had a good idea what it might have been.

The woman leaned closer, hissing, "Betrayal. When the last king of Vale triumphed, he dissolved our order and declared our techniques heretical to the good of humanity, just like the Anathema. We sacrificed our lifeblood to protect them and were driven to the ends of Remnant as thanks."

"That… uhh… sucks." Yang wasn't sure what else she could tell the crazy lady who might spill the beans on something important if Yang let her keep talking. From everything she'd done so far, her order deserved everything that happened to them.

"We should have perished. Self-righteous men like that claim to be a Beacon of light for the world, a fitting name for his tyrannical palace. Yet they never realize that they are the ones who cast the largest shadows." She spat more venomously than anything else Yang had ever heard.

Blake and Yang's fights had nothing on that anger.

"We were saved by the mistress' disciples once more. They brought us from the brink of destruction and reforged our order into a blade that serves the true goddess of Remnant." She clasped a hand to her heart and bowed her head. "It is by her will that we were saved and we would love for you to join our family."

"Uh huh." Yang gulped, this was getting weirder by the minute. "And just who is this mistress of yours?"

"The Lady Garbed in a Shroud of Darkness. The Nightmare Queen of a Fallen Land. The Custodian of the Desolate." The woman let her head fall down as she smiled. "She who commands man's nightmares and allows us to control them in turn. She who has provided a refuge for those rejected from proper society. She who will bring vengeance upon those who have denied us our free lives."

"Does this goddess of yours have a name?"

"It is not for me to say. For a lowly member such as myself to speak it is blasphemy."

If she was trying to make this sound good, then she was failing so badly that it was almost funny. Though actually, if Yang didn't know that she was evil and that the Anathema completely deserved to be Hunted down, then the thought of joining up with someone like that would make sense. Under that assumption, cultist lady would have a point.

The woman waved her fingers to a beat and the Beowolf got up. Yang aimed at it, but lowered her arm when it started moving.

Yang rubbed her eyes, just to confirm that what she thought was happening was actually happening... It was.

The Beowolf was dancing a jig.

That was so wrong.

"Okay, so… You can control the Grimm…" Being able to do that would solve so many problems, but...

"One of the many blessings that she has bestowed upon us. That and a place of safety to live, beyond the reach of the Kingdoms. Those places would also welcome one such as yourself with open arms."

That screamed trap louder than anything else Yang'd heard of in a long time, but if they found out what this secret 'blessing' was, then they'd be that much closer to saving everyone. Mistral had controlled Grimm in her favorite war board game and whatever let them do it couldn't be too hard to learn for her and Blake.

' _No!'_

And the demon was against it, which automatically made her want to do it more, even if that would make the headaches worse.

"Alright… New home and all that… So, where exactly would this place be?"

The woman smiled. "Before you are shown the way, my master would speak with you."

"Uh huh…" If her master was also Anathema, then this could be dangerous. Yang's heart started beating faster with that thought. She and Blake never spared all out anymore because it would risk giving them away. "So where does she want to meet?"

"He." She corrected. "We will wait for you on a cliff overlooking Xūhuàn. The camp should be trivial for one such as yourself to find."

"Gotcha. See you soon." This would've been so much easier to figure out if she had Blake around. Or Weiss… Or Ruby...

* * *

Blake dropped her backpack to the ground when she caught sight of their 'base'. Yang was sitting at a campfire, which was burning with green flames, roasting some small animal.

"You're back!" Her partner shouted, jumping up from her seat.

"You did it _again_ ," Blake said in disbelief.

"Did what?"

"That!" She pointed at the tower of doom which had replaced the nice, comfortable cabin they'd found.

"Oh, yeah." Yang shrugged. "I got bored and it was either this or talk to the demon."

"You know, there are other options, right?"

"Like what?"

"Literally anything else!" Blake threw her hands in the air. "Build a bike, go swimming, punch out a Beowolf: anything besides making another easy to spot tower!"

"This one can't be seen above the trees." Yang paused. "I checked."

"And is it also going to explode?"

"Nope." Yang lied.

Blake crossed her arms.

Yang rubbed the back of her neck and told the truth. "Well… it shouldn't, but I'm really not sure… I'm pretty sure that if it does it'll be smaller."

Blake frowned and shook her head.

"The explosion was delicious?"

"You're not helping your case." Blake pinched the bridge of her nose. "Wait, how can an explosion be delicious?"

"My soul liked absorbing it."

"That doesn't… Whatever."

"Well… How about this then? I have good news and bad news. Which do you want first?"

"Good."

"I figured _it_ out."

Blake's ears perked up and some of her annoyance flowed away. "You did?"

"Yep." Yang posed with her fists on her hips, smiling brightly. "By building my second tower of villainy, I finally figured out how to make the energy in the air flow and how to absorb it. Then it became a great ball of fire that made my soul burn hotter."

"Please tell me you're not being literal."

"I might be." Yang stuck a finger in her mouth and made a popping sound when she pulled it out.

"This is going to be the berries all over again."

"Hey, those are also delicious."

"They're highly poisonous!"

"Blake." Yang's smile was gone. "What's wrong?"

Blake crossed her arms and turned away from Yang's monstrosity. "The White Fang were recruiting in the city. It's… why I took so long to get back."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Blake fell onto the bench with a loud thump. "We're pretty far from any of the Kingdoms, which is always where they did their best, but this was something else. Their members were half of the militia and the main Huntsman stopped being able to do anything all of a sudden, so now they're also the Hunters."

"That's… Well, it's good that someone's protecting it." Yang sat down beside her and threw an arm over her shoulders.

"They're digging themselves in, making the people dependent on them. If this goes on for too much longer, it'll be theirs."

"What'd you want to do about it? We could go in and take them out."

"No, that's… I... " Blake shook her head. "I spent some time writing up counter-propaganda and giving it to people. That should be enough for now."

"Is it really enough though?" Yang whispered. "I… I've always had sort of a drive to go out and do things, but it's never been as bad as it is right now. There has to be more that we could be doing than just running away from everything."

"Have you figured out how to disguise yourself?"

"I have a good idea about how to do it, but I'm been focusing more on making sure people can't find us." Yang shrugged.

"And building towers."

" _And_ remaking our camp so that the energy around it is mine."

"And all of the exploded trees?"

"Figuring out if my Aura was coming back faster… It is… And not just because of this place."

"How?"

"I don't know."

"Great." Blake sighed. "Anything else?"

"I did all of that with pebbles." Yang pointed over her shoulder at a pile of ash. "I'm pretty sure it'd punch through Auras too, but that's hard to test… Unless... Have you figured out how to be tougher yet?"

"It's hard. None of your explanations made any sense." It was Blake's turn to grimace. Her Aura felt more slippery than stable, which meant the 'just form a wall from it' method didn't work.

"It's the same thing with disguises, but going to see the cultists will probably let me see if my idea works."

"Cultists!" Blake sat straight up.

"Oh, right… The bad news. Some weird cultist sort of showed up at the camp with her Grimm in tow."

"Her Grimm?"

"Yeah, she had a Beowolf controlled somehow. Made it dance and everything."

"That sounds really creepy."

"It was!" Yang leaned over, resting her chin on Blake's shoulder. "But that wasn't the weirdest thing…"

Every sentence of explanation sounded worse and worse. Not only had Yang been discovered by some sort of crazy Grimm whisperer, she also said they'd think about talking again.

Blake held her eyes closed after Yang finished explaining, trying to allow Yang's fingers to make the stress go away. "So, you just said yes?"

"I didn't say anything like that. I just said that I'd be interested in talking to them about it, but needed to convince you." Yang crossed her arms and pouted like she'd just been denied her favorite food: a rare, toxic berry. "Besides, what else do we have to do, practice using our powers more? Once my disguise idea works, there's no point to sticking around."

"I'm almost afraid to ask, but what is this idea?"

Yang sheepishly grinned. "Going bright again and controlling what I look like when I come back down."

"That's a horrible idea. We spent so much time making sure no one knew where we were."

"I can always make them lose us again tomorrow."

"That's fair, but please don't try to explain it again. The first time gave me a headache trying to imagine it." Blake doubted she would ever really understand how Yang 'made everyone observing them see them travel along all possible paths to their destination', but she was fine with remaining ignorant.

"Actually…" Yang mimed stroking a beard. "If I take the idea and run with it, I might be able to find us a path to the Menagerie that doesn't involve crossing the ocean."

That… Blake could already feel her head throbbing.

"Please don't. We have a good plan: figure out a way to disguise you, then get on a boat. No need to include… whatever that idea is." Blake waved her hand in the air for emphasis. "I also don't think it should include walking into the obvious trap."

"Sure, it's probably a trap, but it also might not be. And I'm… not exactly the type of person who'd be able to figure that out."

"Yang…" Blake grabbed her hand and squeezed. "That's not tr-"

"No, it is. I know what I'm good at and what you're much better at. I'd trust your gut about whether or not we can trust someone over my own any day. You can figure that stuff out with your powers while I can I.D. Anathema or make them listen to us."

That was accurate, but still not how Blake wanted her to phrase it.

"Besides, if it is a trap, then I get to try and disguise myself while we fight off a horde of Hunters."

Blake chuckled. "I don't think Hunters can be a horde."

"They totally can! We just need, ten or more of 'em."

Blake considered them being that surrounded. "That might be a challenging fight."

"Yeah, and if it isn't a trap, then we might figure out how to control the Grimm!"

"Which would only make everyone want to kill us even more."

"If we can make the Grimm kill each other first, it'd be worth it."

"I doubt it would be that easy. If it was, someone else would've by now."

"You're forgetting something." Yang raised a hand to the sky and covered the sun with her palm. "We're probably two of the most powerful Anathema in the history of Remnant. Only Jonathan Argint might've been better and I think I can catch him."

"You might be able to."

Yang squeezed Blake's shoulder. "You'll figure it out eventually."

"I don't want to figure it out. I don't want to think about more death or destruction or hatred."

"You think I wanted to sit in the middle of that Grimm nest until I figured out out to make it more like hell instead? That place felt more wrong than…"

"The thought of Ruby and Cardin dating?"

"Ahh!" Yang shrieked. "Why would you make me imagine that?"

Blake chuckled and smiled at her. "Because of the look on your face."

Yang laughed through her teeth. "Real funny… So… Where did this disguise come from?"

"Uhh." Blake gulped. She was still disguised as the pretty monkey-girl with purple hair from town. "Just someone I met in town."

"Oh? And how exactly did you manage to steal her face, mhmmm?" Yang leaned in, pressing her very hot cheek against Blake's equally warm one.

"Nothing."

"Oh, was it a night club? Did you call her into a corner with you devilish charms and then plant a kiss on her?"

"N-No. She was just…"

"Was just?"

"I was spying on the White Fang at a bar and she thought I was cute."

"Aww." Yang hugged her. "You are cute, no matter which look you're using."

Blake looked away, but leaned into Yang. "Anyway, about this cult."

"They seem so obviously evil that they can't be real."

"That puts another check in the trap column."

"They offered not only a safe place to live and a goddess who accepts us for who we are, but also the ability to control the Grimm."

"Too good to be true…" Blake thought about it for a moment. "Then again, it might also let us kill two birds with one stone."

"Huh?"

"This mystery cult and the White Fang will probably know of each other, if they aren't directly working together."

"Uhh…"

"When you're in a position like that, you take whatever non-enemies you can get. If nothing else, the number of defensible locations outside of towns is so limited that they're probably aware of where the other group's camps are."

"I thought you didn't want to walk into the obvious trap." Yang nudged her in the side.

"I wanted to make sure it was worth springing."

"And?"

"With both of us interrogating? I think we can handle a bunch of problems at once."

Yang laughed. "It's sort of a funny, isn't it. We just need monsters to punch out the other monsters."

"I don't think you'd need to punch any of them that hard."

"I don't know, we need to get them into _line_. That takes an awfully hard punch." Yang started laughing maniacally.

"Really? That was terrible." Blake rolled her eyes.

"Come on. I haven't had the chance to have fun for… weeks!"

"Hehe. Okay, fine." Blake elbowed Yang and joined in. She needed a good laugh after the past week.


	5. Chapter 1-5

"Who are you?" The blonde woman slowly stood up, grabbing a pistol at her side with her hair, but not drawing it.

"I-" Ruby stammered. How was this possible? No normal person would've been able to get past that last trap. Someone like Uncle Qrow might've been able to do it, but there weren't very many Hunters like him.

She mentally kicked herself for ignoring the obvious option and focused on the sounds of the woman's Aura. It was loud, overwhelming, and _black_. Blake's was similar, though a lot quieter and less purple flavored. The woman was Anathema, which made sense.

"I'm Ruby," Ruby said softly, failing to keep her disappointment from showing. "And I was really hoping you'd be someone else."

"Yang?"

"My sister."

The woman glanced to Ruby's left. There was another Aura over there, slowly moving toward her, but it was a normal Hunter level, non-Anathema, one. "And why would you come here looking for her? It isn't exactly on the beaten path."

"Because she's also Anathema."

"I- I'm not Anathema. The woman drew her weapon and blatantly looked towards her companion. "I'm just an archeologist."

Ruby shook her head. "No, you're Anathema. I can tell."

" _You're wrong." Her voices echoed in the chamber in a way that sent shivers down Ruby's spine. "If you value your life you will-"_

 _Ruby stepped between the stands of reality to dodge her words._ She reappeared directly behind her, with Crescent Rose's blade resting on the woman's neck. "Don't do that again."

"D-Do what?"

"Whatever you were doing. Your Aura infused your words to make them impossible to resist." There were patterns within every use of Aura. Originally, Ruby thought they were random noise or unique songs for the person, but this one sounded so similar to her own when she forced someone to choose what she wanted.

"I don't…" The woman hesitated. "How do you know this?"

"I can hear it. You probably could too, if you tried."

"You… Then you're also… But there are only two others nearby."

"They're the ones I'm trying to find." Ruby lifted Crescent Rose slightly. "Now, are you going to listen to me or try that again?"

The woman's Aura blazed with power, but she didn't move. It sang with a song of discovery. Even though the notes made Ruby shiver, she didn't move away. It wasn't going to do anything dangerous or she'd get a warning from the future about it.

 _Something touched her soul. A tendril of darkness snaked along the outside, softly poking her Aura, and she-_

"Oh God no. Please no." The woman screamed, hair writhing like a nest of snakes.

"What?" Ruby blinked several times and rolled her neck. Why was it so tight all of a sudden?

"I didn't mean for that to happen!"

"Uhh…" Ruby kept Crescent Rose in place in she was about to attack.

The woman shook her head rapidly. "No, no, no. Please no, please don't kill me. I was just trying to help."

Someone fell to the ground behind Ruby. She glanced over her shoulder, not letting the anathema out of sight completely. The strong Aura belonged to a dog faunus who looked a little older than Yang and had a rather large battle-axe raised above her head.

"Maroon, stop! You can't beat her. Neither of us can."

"You don't know that." The Faunus girl snapped.

"Yes, I do." The woman trembled. "She could kill all of us, everyone in town."

"But you're-"

"That doesn't matter! You had to save me from that Hunter and she's-"

"Okay, stop." Ruby interrupted. "What did you just do?"

Both of them went quiet.

"You weren't freaking out like this before you did something to yourself and maybe me. What was it?"

"I-" The Anathema woman couldn't meet her eyes. "I looked into the depths of your soul and saw everything you desire, everything you fear, and everything you want."

Ruby stared at her. What could she possibly have seen that made her react like that?

"Ma'am?"

Ruby lowered Crescent Rose, but didn't put it away. "Don't call me ma'am. You're probably at least six years older than me."

"Of course," she said so fast Ruby almost missed it.

"Petra, who the hell is this?" The Faunus lowered her axe. "Do you know her?"

"Everyone knows her." Petra whispered. "She's the one all of Atlas and Vale is hunting."

The weapon clattered to the floor, followed by the girl's knees. She started speaking very quickly in a language Ruby didn't know, but sounded very familiar.

Ruby waited for a moment, "Okay, what?"

"You are…" The Anathema woman shivered. "Either a savior or a terror depending on who you ask."

"A savior?" Ruby stared at them at a loss for words. "But I'm… I'm the one who broke everything. Your entire village of terrible people is terrified of me… Wait.. No... You're terrified of me too."

"Please don't kill me. I don't want to die again."

"Why would I kill you?" Ruby shouted, throwing her arms into the air. "What could you possibly have done which would make me want to-"

"Imtheonewhomadethevillagersliketheyare." She flinched back and squeaked the words out so quickly that they blurred together.

"What?"

"I-" Petra trembled and dropped her head. "When I came here, they hated the Anathema… Not Hunters. I… I forced them to change who they hated so I could stay safe. "

Rub's blood ran cold. That was actually one of the worst things she could think of doing to someone. The Anathema'd forced them to become people they weren't, effectively killing the person, along with everyone else the new person murdered.

Petra fell back, kicking the ground to scoot away from Ruby. "Please no! I didn't mean it; I just wanted to help them, but I couldn't without the protection. Then they… They killed so many people trying to keep their homes safe."

"The scouts."

She nodded very slowly. "They were dead before I even knew what was happening. I- I don't leave the catacombs often."

This was an Anathema? This was a demon that made normal people quake in their boots and panic so much they drew the Grimm for miles around? This was a champion who wielded the power of gods and could save the world?

Ruby should kill her. She was still a Huntress and... even if the Anathema were people, there were still people who needed to die. She'd taken away the free will of an entire town's worth of people just to protect herself. She turned them into murderers to keep herself from getting caught. But…

Crescent Rose felt so heavy in Ruby's hands. Could she really do it, kill a girl who was begging for her life and another who seemed to be praying to… Okay, people praying to her was really weird, but she could deal with that later.

Ruby glanced back at Petra and- Oh no, now she was tearing up. Ruby clenched her hands until her knuckles hurt. She deserved it, she was an Anathema who corrupted an entire town and accidentally turned them into murderers. But… there was something else in those burning green eyes and wild blond hair.

She was just like Yang had been, when Ruby found out she was Anathema.

"I…" Ruby took a deep breath. She… she couldn't kill Yang back then, even after her sister ended who knew how many people's lives. Sure, they were White Fang and they were trying to kill her friends, but Yang didn't hesitate at all. Ruby shouldn't hesitate when she needed to do something either, but… Did she really need to?

She could look to the future and see what would make either of them happiest or accomplish her goals, but she already knew what that would be for Petra.

What even was best right now? Killing her was what any Huntress would do. It was what Uncle Qrow would do. It was what Yang would do. She made people kill each other, even if she didn't want it to happen, she still did it. Because of that, the villagers would be forever changed, all because of one bad decision that she forced on them.

Even if she didn't know the result would be that bad, it was still her fault. All of that blood was on her hands... All of the people who died as a result of her own actions.

Would it be right if someone killed her for that? Even if she was trying to fix what she'd broken.

Would it be right for them to take revenge? Would they understand that she was just trying to protect her family? Who wouldn't try to protect their sister when the whole world was against her? Even if it hurt so many more.

Ruby stared at the cowering woman in front of her, but it wasn't only Petra that she would be condemning if she continued down this path…

"Can you fix it?" Ruby lowered Crescent Rose.

Petra gulped, eyes wide. "What?"

"Can you undo what you did to them?"

"I- No…" She shook her head very slightly. "I can't undo what I did. I can't make them like they were before. I can't bring the dead back to life."

Ruby honestly didn't know what she would do if that was really possible. If she could go back in time and stop herself, never hurt them in the first place.

"All I can do is figure out how this tower works and use it to make the lives of those who're alive safer."

Would they understand that why she felt that way, why she did what she did? Whether or not the shattered pieces of their relationship could be put back together?

"Can you really make it better for not only them, but also make up for all of the lives you've already taken?"

"If-" The Faunus girl interrupted. She looked at Ruby, dog ears held low, and waited for her to nod before continuing. "If she can find out how this place works, then we'll be free. We won't depend on _them_ for Dust anymore. Anyone could build their own town without living in fear."

Ruby looked at Maroon a lot closer. She was almost entirely covered in finely made armor, but left her right arm bare. A pair of familiar tatoos snaked around her bicep. She was White Fang and if Ruby remembered what Blake told her right, someone fairly high up.

Why were they so similar? How was that fair? Was this also Fate?"

"It's destroying any Grimm that come near."

"That's good. That means it's working right, but the townsfolk need to stay away too. I don't know how to keep them safe from it. Not yet." She looked up at Ruby begging. "Please, at least let me finish researching this tower. I'll tell you anything that I know and-"

"No. You don't need to do that." _Ruby looked to the future to make sure she wasn't making a terrible decision._ If she killed Petra, then no one else would fall prey to her controlling them. She would also lose the potential that this terrible tower represented, even if it was a disgusting blight on all that was good and decent. If she allowed Petra to live, then anyone else who died as a result of her actions would be Ruby's fault.

Somehow, Petra's face became even paler. "I-I-"

Was this what it was like for Professor Goodwitch every time she had to kill someone who might have been Anathema? Ruby wouldn't wish the knot in the middle of her chest on anyone. She could see the future, but even with that she didn't know if this was the right call. What if it was good for a month or two, even a year, and then she convinced a city to kill itself? Or decided that an entire Kingdom needed to be toppled because its leaders were hurting people…

Ruby held a hand out.

After a moment of hesitation, Petra slowly reached for it.

"Tell me what you've found out so far."

* * *

Yang propped her head up with one arm, leaning on the table until it creaked. She used the other to sip the bland tea that they'd given her. It wasn't that it was bad exactly, it just lacked the depth of flavor that she'd found in all sorts of natural food… and non-food.

Would other things still be the same as she remembered them?

"Hey." Yang set the cup down with a click. They'd brought out a table with a porcelain top that was way too fancy for a big tent in the middle of the woods. "You have anything stronger?"

"Of course, Miss Xiao-Long." Ross, the leader of the cult, smiled and waved a hand to the side. His Grimm, a small ape that had arms longer than its entire body, loped over to a cabinet. It pulled a bottle of rum out and set it in front of her. "It isn't the finest, but I've found it very good."

Yang took a swig. "It's alright, a little piney."

The man paused for a moment. "Piney?"

"Don't ask." Blake gave Yang an aside glance. At the same time, Yang could hear her voice echoing in her own mind. ' _Why would you bring that up?'_

' _It'll confuse him and throw him off.'_ Yang swirled the bottle around and took another drink. Blake had her role to play and Yang had hers. "Second's better than the first. You have good taste."

"You're too kind." He smiled again, folding his hands in his lap.

Blake leaned forward, resting her arms on her knees and meeting his eyes. "About this lady garbed in darkness. We'd like to hear more before deciding on anything."

"May the night forever fall upon her shores." He bowed his head briefly. "What do you wish to know of her?"

' _Your turn.'_ Blake messaged Yang as she opened her mouth.

"For one, how do you know that she exists? I don't exactly see much proof of any gods." Yang interrupted as the skeptic; even though, there were memories of gods existing in her head.

He made the Grimm move again. "Is such a miracle not proof enough? She has leant us a fraction of her power to control the enemies of man."

"It is very impressive." Blake nodded.

"Pffff." Yang shook her head. "That could be Sorcery or even a hereditary Semblance."

"Her blessings extend to all of our settlements." The man gestured toward the entrance to his enormous tent. "We do not fear the Grimm, even those who are not under our control. We have no need for patrols or fighters. All that we wish for is to live in peace and harmony."

' _That last part of a lie.'_ Blake spoke into Yang's mind.

"Peace and harmony, huh?" Yang crossed her arms. "You have an awful lot of weapons for something like that."

"A necessary defense. Our camps are places of sanctuary for all those rejected by society: the outcast, the feared, and the powerless." He stood up and opened one of the sides of his tent. A 'camp' the size of a small village was surrounding them. "There are many who have been deemed evil or threats to society merely because of their Semblance or what they look like."

He gave Blake a pleading look.

"When you're pushed to the ends of the world, everyone needs a spear." Blake agreed.

"All that we want, is for you to join our family of the dispossessed." He held his hand over his heart. "There are many who look to you as a source of hope."

"Really? Us? We haven't done anything to make people do that." Yang didn't even have to lie.

"The two of you are Anathema who had not only infiltrated a Hunter academy, but also have survived their attacks for months." The passion in his voice was almost visible, his eyes lighting up with energy. "You are the light at the end of the tunnel, the truth which we have been denied, the shock wave that shatters the world which has abused us."

"Shatters the world…" Yang said under her breath. That certainly felt like something she could do, not that it was really needed. "What's the point of breaking something that's already this broken?"

"The Kingdoms still stand, oppressing those who are different."

"You'd destroy the Kingdoms?"

"Would you not?" He whispered. "They have done more damage to, not only yourself, but all of your people than any other. So long as they stand, we can never be truly free."

' _I've heard all of this before.'_ Blake's mental voice was ice cold.

Yang's blood was pumping, but she needed to keep it in control for more than one reason. ' _Are you going to be alright?'_

' _Give me a moment.'_ Blake pretended to be uncaring, but Yang could make out the tension in her neck. This was so close the the horror that she'd left behind, but that was why she needed to lie like this. "Even with such power, that wouldn't be easy. I've tried to tear those who would hurt us down before."

"As a member of the White Fang, if I'm not mistaken."

"You're not."

"Then why did you betray and kill so many of your fellow Faunus?"

"She didn't kill them." Yang interrupted before he could hurt Blake any more. "This entire time, she hasn't killed anyone. It's all been me."

He met Yang's eyes, the crystal clear madness within his own threatening to pour out. "If you can shatter those fighting for their own freedom, why would you balk at fighting the slavers and murderers who forced their hands?"

"Because they threatened my friends." And also because they were the murderers who would kill millions if they could.

"And now, those same powers threaten not only yourself, but also your own family."

Yang grabbed her arm rest so hard it splintered. "What're you talking about?"

"The nightmare of Vale who stalks the eastern coast with blood soaked hands. She who has done more to destroy the kingdoms than the entire White Fang." He was smiling. "The Girl in Red… Or, should I say, your sister."

"How do you know that?"

He let his head lull to the side.

Blake broke away from her planned character, her voice taking on a harsh edge that threatened to send goosebumps down Yang's back. "You don't know her. You can't know her. You shouldn't be able to remember her."

"The Dark Mistress has revealed such to us."

"Bullshit." Yang shouted a moment before Blake telepathically confirmed that it was a lie.

If the man was surprised, he didn't let it show. "You have a keen eye."

"How did you really find out about her?" Blake's Aura flared and sent a shiver down Yang's spine.

Ross went pale, pupils dilating until they took over the rest of his eyes. He "L-Lord Tyrian, the Speaker of Darkness, informed me of it when he gave us our mission."

"And how did he find out?" Yang flared her Aura, making the air smell of smoke as she scorched the chair.

"The Lady must have told him."

Yang looked at Blake.

"He's not lying."

Yang took a deep breath and cooled off, though that fire within still burned as hot as ever. "Sorry about that, you know how it goes."

"I-It is no problem, my lady. Lord Tyrion is much the same and likely will be when he finds out that you were contacted first." He shrank back, bowing respectfully. "I promise you, when we find her, we will be sure to provide everything we can for her as well."

"Find her?"

"We were instructed to seek her out and bring her to safety."

"Right." Yang took another swig of rum.

' _He wants to kill everyone.'_ Blake almost made Yang cough up the liqour. ' _He hates them even more than Adam did. And… if Ruby doesn't join, then they'd try to kill her too.'_

' _Welp, there goes any hesitation I had.'_ Yang finished her drink and gestured toward him with the bottle. "Alright, you've got me. What do we need to do? You obviously have some sort of idea."

He was silent for a moment.

"Come on, you've got to have some plan for dealing with all of this shit."

"Are you certain my lady?"

"Do I look like someone who's going to keep running?" _Yang kicked her legs over the edge of the chair and let her lust for a good fight flow freely._ Ross' color came back, along with the manic energy in his eyes.

"Of course not." He threw his arms wide. "We will remake this horrid world and purge all who spruned us."

"Damn straight. Lay it on me."

Ross stood up so quickly his chair fell over, making his Grimm open a chest in the corner. He pulled a large map free. "We've been infiltrating a number of nearby towns and cities in preparation for the time to strike. With your power, we could take them in a single night."

He unfurled it. Most of the eastern coast of Sanus was drawn on in some way.

"What do these symbols mean?" Yang pointed at the green circles first.

"Cities that could be taken easily."

"With so few fighters?" Blake asked.

Ross laughed and made the Grimm clap. "We have all of the fighters that we need."

Yang's blood was burning so hot she could feel it in her neck, but they needed to get more out of him. "And the white streaks."

"Places that the White Fang keeps camp. While we may share a common goal, they still do not trust us."

Yang nodded. That was completely understandable. "The purple circles."

"Grimm nests that are safe enough to gather from."

"And the red circles."

"Too dangerous, even for me."

"Mhhh… Well what about-"

The map was incredibly detailed, listing off everything that he knew about in the area. It took the better part of half an hour for them to get everything out of him.

"And so, your leader…" Yang played at not remembering. "T-something."

"Lord Tyrion? What about him?"

"When can we meet him?"

"I do not know. He comes and goes with the breeze, a mystery even to those who serve him."

Blake rolled her eyes. "He's lying."

"I-uhh… He said he would be in Aincrad for quite some time."

"Where's that on the map?" Yang grabbed his arm and pulled it over.

"R-Right here." He tapped one of the green circles. "Though, that is hardly a target which would need-"

"Shhh." Yang shushed him like a little kid. "Now then, Ross, there's something very important that I need you to do."

"What is that?"

"Scream." Yang narrowed her eyes and unleashed her flames.

He didn't scream.

Yang dropped the body and focused on the fires within, gathering power.

"No evil speech?" Blake slid the map into her bag.

"Nah, it'd feel good, but there's something better waiting for me. Something that a little part of me has been begging to do for a long time."

Blake raised an eyebrow.

"Blake, we have an entire camp of literally murderous cultists who can control the Grimm and this stupid demon's always wanted me to kick some divine ass." Yang waited for it to chime in, but it was quiet. "I haven't been feeling great for a while and I figure this is close enough to count."

Blake shrugged. "Do you want any help cleaning up?"

"Yeah." Yang took a deep breath, stoking the flames of her Aura. "I'm going loud with this. Keep an eye out for Hunters and make sure there aren't any innocents in my way because I need to send a message. Also, don't let me burn the map."

With a shout that blew the table over, _Yang unleashed all of the power she gathered and became a towering pillar of hell-fire. Rage and might poured into her muscles and Aura, making them stronger, harder. Her entire body changed into that of the true demon lurking within._

She threw the tent to the side and stood up, towering over Blake.

Her partner looked up at her, now about waist height. "Well, that'll certainly send a message."

Yang stretched her wings and looked over the camp, searching for any powerful Auras. She had a rampage to get started.

* * *

 **A/N: There will be chapters posted during the next two weeks, but the timing is going to be approximately Friday rather than definitely Friday. I'm traveling across the international dateline and may not have an internet connection at the time I normally post.**


	6. Chapter 1-6

Pyrrha squirmed against the much too plush cushion as their pastries were delivered. Hers was a small collection of scones and an incredibly rich hot chocolate. She was also fairly certain it cost the same amount as a normal family's monthly food budget. A treat from Weiss, but nothing that she ate would make this conversation easier.

"Thank you." Weiss sipped her tea and nodded to their waitress.

"Do you need anything else, miss?"

"Not at the moment."

"Very well." She flicked a lamp near the door on. "If you find yourself in need, turn this on and I'll be right back."

With another click, the lamp was darkened. Their waitress left and the happy, smiling Weiss disappeared. She was replaced by the cold, calculated girl that Pyrrha had seen far too frequently.

"So, Schnee." Coco sipped her coffee. "What exactly are we talking about?"

"A moment." Weiss held up a hand and turned to Pyrrha. "Are we safe?"

Pyrrha closed her eyes and focused on their surroundings. The metal within the room was easy to pick up. The walls were lined with wires and the tables dotted with small bits, but those were all supposed to be there. When she extended her senses to the fixtures and a little bit past the walls, she found more of what was expected, no computers. "No microphones or other recorders."

"That's a neat trick," Coco said softly.

"It's part of her training." Weiss set a cup down. "An advanced application of her Semblance that will hopefully help with other skills."

"Such as?"

"Pyrrha?"

"Please be as quiet as you can. This is not easy to do." Pyrrha took a deep breath, held it for several seconds, then slowly released. As she took the next, she unleashed her Aura, as if she was awakening someone's. A soft, red glow would be surrounding her, but her eyes were still closed.

Goosebumps ran along her arms and up her back as she pushed her Aura out. She could feel more now, just like her own weapons whenever she fought.

Her chair was old, well worn. Underneath the seat, there was a small crack along the left hand side. With each breath, her weight shifted; with each shift, the crack expanded. She could push her Aura into it, infuse it with her own soul and prevent it from breaking further, but there was no reason to do so.

Pyrrha took longer breaths. A soft tingle appeared in the back of her head. As she exhaled, the tingle moved to her mouth and out. Out. That was what she needed to feel. She needed to be more than just a girl, more than a simple warrior.

 _She infused the air with her Aura, as if it was a weapon_. But it was not a simple piece of metal, designed to accept the Aura of its wielder. It was a wild, endless pool. No matter how much she used, it could always take more.

 _She pushed further._ A second tingle appeared near her. It was warm, but protected. When she pushed against it, it pushed back. Some of the heat mixed with her own as the mingled.

As she pushed more, a second barrier appeared. This one was ice cold and perfect. Pyrrha could tell it was there only because of the lack of any energy near it. But, even finding Weiss was not enough. She needed to move further beyond.

When she reached the door, she couldn't feel her own body any more. There was only her breath, her Aura, and the world around her.

"There's no one outside of the door." Pyrrha spoke so softly she couldn't be sure that it wasn't a thought.

"That was much faster than last time." Weiss snapped her out of the trance with a chill gust across the back of her neck.

"T-Thank you." Pyrrha shivered, gulping down some of her wonderfully warm drink. "I lost myself again."

"It will take time, but you were also accurate, we're safe."

"Okay," Coco leaned forward so she could look over her sunglasses at Pyrrha. "What just happened?"

"I was trying to use my Aura to feel others who were nearby."

"You can do that?"

"Only sort of." Pyrrha lowered her head, heat rising to her cheeks. "It requires so much concentration that I lose track of everything else. The first time I tried it I stopped breathing and I've made sure to only attempt with others nearby since."

"I see." Coco didn't sound, at all, like she really understood. "And you can do that too, Schnee?"

"I can do something similar."

"Is that related to the reason why we're here?"

"No." Weiss took another sip of her tea. "We're here for a different reason."

Coco motioned for Weiss to get on with it.

"Coco," Weiss took a deep breath. Pyrrha knew now that the gesture was all for show, but that didn't mean the show wasn't important. "We are working on an incredibly dangerous project. Before I can say anything else, what do you think of Ruby's speech, right before she fought Professor Goodwitch?"

"While she may be…" Coco paused, pursing her lips. "Factually correct about the Anathema, if she really wanted to help, then she would have stayed at Beacon undercover."

Weiss looked at Pyrrha, nodding slightly.

"That is a… fairly accurate assessment." Pyrrha had a little trouble finding the words, but they were coming to her more easily than normal. "What about her reasons?"

Coco glanced from one of them to the other. "Normally I would say that she'd… gone off the deep end and joined some crazy cult."

Pyrrha couldn't help glaring.

"But." Coco quickly added. "I don't think that either of you would be taking what she said this seriously if that was the case."

"No, we wouldn't. We've both seen proof of what she says." Weiss' fingers glowed with a red light as she conjured an image of Lady Mars onto the table. "When Pyrrha and I followed Ruby into the forest that night, a woman appeared to speak with her."

Pyrrha briefly bowed her head.

"Looks like a powerful Huntress, maybe Anathema." Coco took her sunglasses off to get a good look. "It wouldn't be the first time one's pretended to be a god."

"I'm almost certain that this one was real." Weiss called upon a phantom Ruby and mimed them fighting. "She came down to explain what was happening to Ruby and also train her. She also revealed a number of things that I can only assume were for my or Pyrrha's benefit, rather than Ruby's."

Coco nodded.

"There were many important facts, but here are the main ones." Weiss folded her hands on the table and the room's temperature fell. It wasn't only in Pyrrha's head, the steam coming from their drinks was larger. "One: the source of the Grimm is the Anathema from a very long time ago. Two: the reason why the gods do not involve themselves is that they tasked the Anathema with ruling the world, any problem is theirs to solve. Three: Ruby, or another Anathema, who survives into their second century would be able to destroy the Grimm. Four: If Ruby was to lead Blake and Yang, they could stop the Grimm much sooner."

Pyrrha waited for a moment, then said, "I have worshiped Lady Mars since I was youngl. She presides over all conflict with knowledge of exactly what the future may bring. She appeared to not only tell us this, but also teach Ruby an unparalleled defensive technique 'because it would be necessary.'"

Weiss' Ruby vanished, reappearing outside of what were many different traps. No matter how many attacks came in, or how impossible dodging became, the Ruby was untouched.

"I am fairly certain that Professor Goodwitch would have killed her had she not learned it," Pyrrha continued. "It's an omen. For centuries, we've looked for proof that the gods are there. Ruby has a larger role to play in the future of Remnant, as do Blake and Yang. Lady Mars would not have appeared otherwise."

"Ignoring all of my problems with that logic, let's just say it's right." Coco looked from Pyrrha to Weiss. "What exactly are you going to do about it? We, meaning high society, have known about the potential of the Anathema forever and you don't see anyone clamouring to get one on their side."

"That's just it." Weiss replaced Lady Mars with Yang and Blake. "We already have three on our side. Three girls who wanted nothing more than to become Huntresses to protect humanity. If I was going to be paranoid, I'd worry more about Ruby than either Blake or Yang, but considering how she hasn't left a trail of bodies in her wake, I think she's still safe."

"Which would make you three Anathema and two Huntresses against the rest of the world. Not exactly a winning combination even with their power."

"I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't have other allies." Weiss lied so smoothly Pyrrha would never have caught on if she didn't know the truth.

"Who? The SDC?"

"Close… The Atlas military." Another lie because Pyrrha was sure they wouldn't approve of most of Weiss' plans.

"No."

Weiss smiled and laughed very softly. "I'm glad to say they are."

Pyrrha held her breath. She knew what was coming next and needed to not give anything away. There was an expectation that she would be able to handle a battle on any stage… and for most of her life she'd completely ignored one field because she wasn't very good at it and it made her uncomfortable to participate.

Weiss slid her scroll across the table to Coco. "An observation report about an Anathema that turned himself in."

"It says that he died after… damn, that's way too long to just be confirmation."

"I know for a fact that they have another working for them right now." Weiss was almost completely still, giving nothing away. "You want to know the real reason why I'm teaching junior Sorcery? It's so that I can talk to Atlas about what I've found via a secure connection."

Coco didn't respond for almost a minute. She sat there, pouring over the single report that Weiss would allow her to see, twitching slightly. Pyrrha tried to keep herself as still as possible as well, not giving anything away.

"It's one of the two of you… Nothing else makes sense." Coco glanced from one to the other.

Pyrrha took a deep breath, focused on her muscles, and forced them to be completely still. It was just a different form of meditation.

"Normally, I'd say it's you, Schnee. "Coco continued speaking to the air. "But, it wouldn't make sense for the Atlas military to leave you here. They could easily transfer you into their own programs. If it's Pyrrha, then you would stay behind as their liaison at Beacon. The SDC is already involved in enough of their projects that you'd have some trust from there."

"That's an interesting theory," Weiss said.

"And unlikely. 'The Invincible Girl' wouldn't be able to vanish like you would since she isn't from Atlas. If they wanted her cooperation and she wanted to remain at Beacon, they'd need someone who's in the know, can resist the Anathema, and knows the one in question."

"You're missing one possibility." Pyrrha pointed to Weiss. "She could be working with them for other reasons and recruited me because I know the truth."

"That would require Weiss to have access to top secret documents without being directly involved with one of the…" Coco went quiet for a moment. "Are you still in communication with Ruby, Blake, or Yang?"

"No." Weiss shook her head. "But that will be remedied soon enough."

Coco laughed emptily. "So, this is how the world ends, isn't it? Three teenage girls conspiring about what three other girls could do."

"I wouldn't call it an end," Weiss paused. "Instead, the beginning of a new age."

"That is one of the lessons of Saturn," Pyrrha agreed entirely with the sentiment. "That endings are merely the beginnings of something new."

"I can't believe I'm doing this, but let's make sure it's a good one then." Coco raised her cup. "To a new, better world."

They each drank to the potential.

"So, what do we do next?" Coco set her glass down with a click.

"For now"- Weiss set hers down next to Coco's. -"we wait."

Coco raised an eyebrow.

"Until Ruby meets up with Blake and Yang, and we find a means of communicating with them, all we can do is practice and recruit."

"Got it."

"There are also other students who we were considering approaching," Weiss said. "What are your thoughts on your teammates?"

"Hmm…" Coco adjusted her glasses. "This is going to get interesting. I'll put out some feelers, but can't promise anything."

* * *

Blake placed enough lien down to more pay for not only her drink, but also all of the information the bartender gave her. "Thank you."

"Pleasure's mine." The ram Faunus swept her glass away. "Just keep an eye out for yourself, Anathema're prowling the woods."

"I'll stay safe." Blake smiled and walked out the door. News of their attack on a camp had reached the city, just like Yang had planned. However, no one knew why they did it, so everyone was assuming the worst.

"I don't think my disguise is working." Yang growled as she stepped next to Blake. She was shorter now and looked… Different enough that Blake was sure she was safe.

"Why?"

"People keep looking at me funny, like they're seconds away from running scared or attacking me."

Blake gaped at her for a moment, then remembered that Yang had never had to deal with this before. "Have you considered what you look like right now?"

"What'd you mean?"

"Yang, you're…" There had to be a way of saying this nicely. "You're what people think of as a stereotypical White Fang member."

"Really?" She raised an eyebrow. Yang's new form managed to looked exactly like the 'Faunus monsters' from the nightmares of racist humans. Her jet-black horns curved around her head and made the blood red hair look that much more… demonic. She also smelled like blood, which really wasn't helping matters due to the vest of knives they'd looted from the camp.

"Yeah. You're a white jacket and tattoo away from the exact look."

"Huh." Yang paused, glancing around. "Is this always what it's like?"

"Not always, but mostly. That's why I wore my bow for so long."

"Wow, that's terrible."

"That's... an understatement. The way you're being treated is why the White Fang formed in the first place."

Yang looked down and sighed, "One more thing to add to the pile then… How do we fix it?"

"I wish I knew." Blake had spent days trying to figure out how to fix all of the problems with her abilities, but every idea she had was full of downsides she couldn't accept. "Maybe Weiss would be able to figure something out."

"Yeah… We could actually go back to Beacon now. The Vytal festival should be starting up so lots of strangers'll be around. It'd be nice to see her again."

"That's a thought, but we have something important to do out here first." Blake stepped into an alley, waiting to speak until they were out of earshot. "He didn't know who 'Tyrion' was, but he had heard of a new goddess that some of the Silver Cult were talking about."

"Any leads?"

"No names, but he did have a location: an old slaughterhouse near the docks."

"Well, that seems appropriate."

Blake nodded. "You want to do your thing?"

"Heh, you know it." Yang took a deep breath and relaxed. When she looked at Blake, her eyes were a little glazed over with an incredible hunger. "Showtime."

She sauntered into the market eyeing up the stands and licking her lips.

Blake stepped into the darkness, vanishing from sight. She flickered from shadow to shadow as she followed closely.

"Hey there." Yang leaned on the counter, bending over and shaking her butt at Blake while she smiled at the man behind it. "That looks so good."

"Well, uhh, you're welcome to have one." He smiled, rubbing the back of his neck.

Black jumped to right behind him… Yang was looking at his ducks like she was planning to jump on them.

"I'll take two." She grinned, making him flinch.

"Ahh, right away." He pulled one down and placed it in front of her.

Yang tore a leg off and chomped on it, chewing right through the bone.

Blake pinched the bridge of her nose. About five people just stepped away from her and one looked like he was about to run.

"That'll be eighty L-"

Yang slapped the money down, continuing to tear away at it. Her eyes were lighting up like it was the best thing she'd ever tasted. "Keep the change."

Ducks in hand, she sauntered off again, loudly savoring every bite. She was also completely ignorant of the other Faunus following her. The lithe boy with a horse-tail was not subtle at all, but Yang completely ignored him.

After almost a minute of walking, the boy tapped Yang on the shoulder.

Yang turned around, still gnawing on a bone, and the glaze vanished from her eyes. "Yes?"

"I-umm…" The boy stammered, scared to death even though Yang only came up to his chest. "I'm sorry for bothering you, but I saw you in the market and thought…"

"And thought what, hmm?" Yang leaned over, giving him a view Blake was all too familiar with.

"Well, thought that if you liked, umm, eating like that so much that I could… Well, that is to say, that…"

"That you know where I can find other people like me?"

He nodded slowly. "Why is a cornered wolf dangerous?"

 _Blake touched Yang's mind and sent her the correct answer._

"Because the rest of the pack has you cornered." Yang grinned. "So, can I bring a friend?"

"Sure."

"Hey, get out here!" Yang shouted into the air.

Blake jumped down from her perch, landing right next to Yang.

"Ahh-" The boy jumped back, heart beating loudly enough for Blake to hear it.

Blake smiled at him, which made matters worse because her current disguise was a shark Faunus.

"Well…" He nervously laughed, "Let's get going then."

They followed him through the winding alleys to a large townhouse without much talking. The lights were off, but someone still opened the door when he knocked in a strange pattern.

"Rusty?" A human woman peeked out.

"It's me, Carmen. I found two others in the market."

She opened the door slowly, silver crescent amulet glinting in the moonlight. A steel knife held so hard her knuckles were white joined it. "Are you two also adherents of the silver chariot?"

"Yep." Yang chirped.

Blake sighed and elbowed Yang in the side. "May her claws catch the horizon."

Carmen let out a breath, tension flowing away from her. "You shouldn't look so frightened then, Rusty."

"I-umm…" He glanced at them, stammering.

"It's alright. I spooked him earlier." Blake smiled at her, keeping her lips closed.

Carmen shook her head. "These girls don't seem like they'd be any trouble, do they?"

"No ma'am," He mumbled.

"Well then, come on in." She stepped back, holding her arm toward the inside. "The Silver Lady protects all of her children. Though, we have added another goddess to our shrines recently."

"Oh?" Yang stepped up first. "What's she like?"

"A proof that the gods still work directly in this land. A savior of all who have been hurt by the rule of man." Carmen spoke softly, leading them deeper into the dark building. They only stopped when she came to a hallway table with several trays on it. "We had dinner a little while ago, but the desserts are still there. Please help yourself."

Yang immediately devoured two cupcakes. Blake took one to nibble on as they continued.

They only needed to pretend to believe for a little while and there was no reason to turn down food.

The sounds of prayer echoed up from the basement as they walked downstairs. It was also where the house changed from nice and homey to a place where something else was going on. Symbols of Luna dotted the stairwell and hallway, giving it an eerie silver glow in the candle light. When Carmen opened the door to the shrine, Yang froze.

Blake stepped behind her, looked over her head, and also froze.

"I- What?" Yang gasped.

The statue in the corner, the new goddess that they were worshiping, was Yang. The statuette wasn't a great likeness, but the feathered wings, fire, and sigil were unmistakable.

"We can only hope that she blessed our city with safety, just like Dōsatsu City." Carmen bowed her head. That was the first Grimm attack they'd stopped.

' _Yang?'_ Blake tried to make her thought full of warmth.

Yang didn't respond.

' _Yang, you need to say something. They're staring.'_

"Are you alright?" A little girl looked up at them.

"We're fine." Blake threw an arm around Yang and pulled her in. "It's just… A lot because… We saw her on our trip here."

"You did?" Practically the entire room shouted.

Blake flinched, that might have been the wrong thing to say. "Y-Yeah, it was a while ago, but she… She was flying overhead."

"Where was she coming from?"

"Where was she headed?"

"Was her companion with her?"

Blake took a deep breath, glancing at Yang. Her partner was still not responsive and she needed a story… Well, maybe the first tower explosion would be a good one. It wouldn't even be a complete lie. "Did you heard about that green explosion a few weeks ago? We were hiking at the foot of the mountain where it happened."

A number of people sat down, giving her their full attention.

"We heard a sharp crack from the top of the mountain." Blake drew on her Aura slightly, focusing on how a good story was written. "And then, the world became fire..."


	7. Chapter 1-7

Blake looked up as the door of their room slammed open and Yang stumbled in. She was a mess with wild hair and unfocused eyes. Blake snapped the book she'd been working on closed and stepped forward to catch her partner.

"Hiiiiii Blake." Yang practically sang as she fell and rammed her horns into Blake's shoulder. "Ouch, that hurt a little."

"Yang, how much did you drink?"

"A lot, probably about this much." Yang held up a hand, laughing. "I think...?" She shrugged and wrapped her arms around Blake.

"No, there's no way you're like this with only five drinks."

"Not five drinks." Yang shook her head back and forth, tickling Blake's neck with her hair. "Five bottles."

Even with a strong Aura, something like that would've needed medical attention, but Yang could eat things that would actually kill someone, so Blake didn't have too much to worry about. Still, it wasn't great for their disguises to be that blatant though. "If you keep that up, then you'll just wind up with more people worshiping you."

"Blake, nooooo!" Yang shouted, laughing in between each work. "That would be… nooooo."

Blake tried to hold her own laughter in.

"I don't need a drunk cult."

Blake smirked while Yang continued freaking out in a manner too silly to be completely serious. Eventually, Blake grabbed her chin and pulled her head up. "Why did you drink that much?"

"I, uhh…" Yang tried to look away, but Blake didn't let her escape. "You're gonna be mad at me."

"What happened?"

"It was… The cult… The cults?" She leaned over, suddenly becoming incredibly heavy. "Yeah, cults... if this one has so many people there's gotta be others."

Blake shifted her weight so they fell onto the bed instead of the ground. Even though she agreed, pressing Yang on that point wouldn't help anyone. "What was it about them?"

"So, I ran into Carmen in the market and we went out drinking. I thought I could find some more out and she really wanted to talk about me… the real me."

"What did she say?"

"Dumb stuff."

"Yang, I know you're not that far gone." Blake sighed. She could smell the amount of alcohol on Yang's breath and _it didn't feel like a real vulnerability._ "What did she really say?"

"Okay, fine." Yang held herself still, taking deep breaths and speaking much slower. "A lot of the same stupid stuff. That I've saved so many people, that I gave them hope, that I was a fucking inspiration to their kids! I'm not a-"

Blake brushed Yang's hair away from her face. "Yang, please don't do this."

"No, I- She's not right Blake. I'm a-"

"Hero." Blake cut her off. "You're a hero because you stood against the Kingdoms and won, even if you might also be a demon. You've saved two cities from Grimm attacks"

"I haven't done anything like that."

"Yes, you have. For one, you're still alive. The two of us being at large gives all of the people who've left safety behind a dream. A dream where they can stand up against those who forced them out."

"That doesn't make it right to… worship me."

"Yang, do you know why the Silver Cult is as strong as it is?"

She shook her head.

"When you live outside of the Kingdoms, you need to use every tool you can to survive. The monsters from the Kingdoms, who would be shunned or executed normally, are tolerated as long as they're useful."

"Makes sense."

"If you think about how much they're lacking. Who could be more useful than a friendly Anathema?"

"Working with the Anathema'll kill'em all. Either by punching or by Grimm showing up. That's how it works."

"So would turning them away. And the Anathema are powerful, so powerful that the Kingdoms fear them above all else." Blake knew all too well how happy Adam was when she became one. "The Kingdoms, to everyone who'd fight them, are an insurmountable wall of power."

Yang nodded slowly.

"A deal with a demon, even if it cost them their own lives, would be worthwhile if it also took out their enemies."

"But… They aren't fighting anyone. They're like a giant family that spends their time with the mom baking things for everyone and're completely normal... besides worshiping Anathema." Yang rolled over, laying on her back. She raised a hand up and made a fist as she continued, "Maybe if they were, I don't know, White Fang or something, then they'd have reasons big enough to do it, but..."

"They may not be themselves, but they may also have loved ones who are." Blake grabbed her free hand. "And even if they don't, everyone who can't directly fight might have the same thoughts."

"Yeah…" Yang sighed. "I just… They shouldn't be doing that. I'm not gonna tell them to do something bad, but if they'll worship me, when'll someone really bad come along?"

"Well you could-" Blake stopped herself from suggesting something that could be very bad.

"Well what?" Yang leaned over. After a moment of silence, she poked Blake in the side. "Come on, well what? I know you were thinking about something."

Blake took a deep breath. She was certain that Yang would refuse, which was probably the right call, but didn't know how she would react.

"Blaaaaake." Yang drew out her name until Blake jabbed her.

"Fine." Blake took a deep breath. "If you're so worried about it, there is one way you could make sure they remain good."

Yang blinked at her several times.

"You could reveal yourself to them."

Yang's giggled like an idiot and smiled. "Oh Blake, I didn't know you-"

"Not like that!" Blake shut her up with a quick kiss. "I meant your real self. They'd probably do whatever you wanted, including just sitting around and being nice families."

"But that would be…" Yang drifted away, but Blake could clearly hear what she meant. _That would mean enabling them._

"Yang," Blake said softly, running Yang's hair through her fingers. "What do you think we've been doing all of these months?"

"Running away."

"Right, we've been doing a lot of that." Blake took a deep breath. "But, we've also been saving people from the Grimm whenever we can and killing murderous cults. Those are _good_ things to do, right?"

Yang looked like she was about to get sick, but Blake didn't move because she knew it was just an expression. "We're Anathema, no matter what we do, it'll still be bad."

"What do you mean?" They'd danced around this topic over and over.

Yang sat up and ran her fingers through her hair. "Okay, so I have all sorts of demon power. That means that anything I do is demon powered and that makes anything good I want to do really do bad."

"How?"

"Just look at what happened here. We do something good and now completely normal people're worshiping demons." Yang sank down, holding her head in her hands. "It's like Ruby said a while ago 'you can't do bad things and hope good comes from them'. If I use hell power to solve a problem, I'm just adding more bad to the world."

Blake leaned in next to her, laying a hand on her leg. "I don't think that's true. When I believed in the White Fang, we did a lot of things that could be considered bad: disruptive protests, vandalism, fighting policemen. But, I still think that good results came from those technically bad actions."

"Would you do that again now that you have more power?"

"I-" Blake took a moment to consider it. "I don't think so. I could do a lot more to actually fix things now."

Yang stayed quiet.

"I never thought about writing something persuasive enough to change people's minds before." Blake pointed to the book she'd been working on. "It just seemed like a good way to get caught, but now that we can change who we are, I can do it."

"You don't think that could backfire in some way? That it'll just make everything worse for the Faunus?"

"I… I don't know, but everything I wrote for us and Team JNPR at Beacon didn't seem that bad. I was also thinking about what you said a couple of days ago, that you felt restless. I think I feel the same way." It'd been gnawing at her for weeks, but Yang finally put the right words to the tension in Blake's mind. "There has to be something else we can do to help people."

Yang froze for a moment, eyes going wide, then flopped back down immediately. "Can we stop talking about this? The demon's yelling again and I just saw the Anathema fighting wars."

"Sure." Blake curled up next to her. "Just… think about it, alright?"

Yang didn't answer, she just grabbed Blake and pulled her in.

After a long wait, Blake budged her again. "Yang? You don't think I'm bad for wanting to do that do you?"

Yang hugged her tighter. "No, you're good Blake. You won't do bad things. Those'll just happen because we're Anathema, not cuz of you."

"Thanks…" Blake tried to force herself to sleep. She couldn't keep pressing Yang so she needed to take progress wherever she could.

* * *

Ruby pulled out her scroll amid the lightning strikes. The very top of the tower was the only place where she could get any service and there was a lot that she needed to do.

Her scroll had been off for months at this point and she didn't know what she'd find if she opened it, but it was also long past the point where she could put off what needed to be done.

"Heh, two-thousand unread messages from..." Ruby giggled to herself until she saw the names on them. That changed what she needed to do, there were a lot of messages she needed to write.

...

Heya Penny,

I'm sorry that I haven't been responding to your messages. I spent a lot of time with my scroll off because… well… yeah. But I'm going through them now! There's like three hundred still waiting to be read though so you might've asked me about some things that I haven't gotten the chance to look over just yet.

About Beacon and everything… Please don't be too mad. I mean, if you were really mad I doubt you would've tried to talk to me that much, but I still really hope that we can be friends once all of this is done. The Anathema hunts were wrong. They were brutal, deceitful, and outright evil. Weiss, my partner, almost died because of one of them and that wasn't even the last one she expecting to be put through.

Professor Ozpin, Professor Goodwitch, everyone I asked all agreed with me that they were wrong, but they still took part in them and I couldn't find any other way to make them stop. There might've been something else if I waited for years, but I have no idea how many people would be murdered just to find a single Anathema.

But, once I find Blake and Yang, I'll be able to come back to Vale and hopefully put everything that happened behind us.

On happier things, that picture of you and your partner was really funny. I don't know anything about her, but from how she was pulling on your ear, she seems kind of like Weiss, super serious and always bugging you about doing your homework or getting to class on time.

Hehe, classes… I know it was just a little while ago that I was worried about all of that.

I know that we didn't get to talk too much when you were at Beacon, but I really hope that we'll be able to when I get back. You'll need to tell me all about the Vytal Festival. I really wanted to fight in it, but that might be a little unfair now.

Talk to you soon,

Ruby

...

Hey Weiss,

I know that you sent me a couple of messages a little while ago, but I never really responded to them.

I'm really sorry about how I left, but I didn't think that staying around any longer after, well, everything, would be a good idea. I'm pretty sure that most people would've remembered me and even though there were some things I should've told you that Mars said, it would've been bad. My future sense also tells me that I shouldn't send it over this email so, sorry about that too.

I hope everything at Beacon's going good. I kinda left you all alone right after Blake and Yang ran away, which really wasn't the sort of thing that a leader, or a friend, should do, but I couldn't just sit there and let them kill either of them.

I really hope that all of you understand why I did it. I'll be able to explain myself to Blake and Yang since they're pretty close.

I also might've made a mistake recently, but for good reasons.

While I was tracking down Blake and Yang, I ran into another Anathema. She's figured out some way to make a building that kills Grimm through ambient energy. There's soooooo much of it and, even though most of the little towns stay away from the energy flows, it could make everyone safe from the Grimm!

She also did a lot of bad things which probably mean she should be killed, but she didn't mean to. Now, she's trying to make the world better and has a really good chance of doing it.

Even if she killed people by accident, that's something that can be made up for in the future, right?

Hoping everything's good,

Ruby

...

Dad,

I'm so sorry.

I can't imagine how much it must've hurt for me and Yang to vanish without any warning or messages, but I'll be able to make some of it better soon.

I'm not sure if you know about this, but the Anathema are just people. They aren't demons wearing our skin or anything like that. It might be hard to believe me, but Uncle Qrow knows this too. Actually, he knows a lot about everything that's been going on, probably even more than I do at this point.

Anyway, I've almost caught up to Yang. I'm not really sure what I'm going to do, but I'm going to bring her back and then we can be a family again.

Assuming you'll have us again. I really hope you will.

Love,

Ruby

...

Hey Blake,

I'm really sorry I didn't try to message you sooner but

...

Ruby tapped her fingers on the sides of her scroll. There wasn't a good reason she hadn't done this sooner. None of her visions of the future had ever mentioned contacting or not contacting Blake and Yang, just not reading her own messages.

...

Hi Yang,

I'm sorry about

...

She paused again. What could she say to them to make up for everything that happened? Was there anything she could say in an email?

Ruby took a deep breath and _considered the possibilities. She could see all of the ways that she could meet up with Yang. Some were wonderful, others horrible, but sending a message like this wasn't in the good list._

The others were fine to send though and… They were all things she should've said months ago.

When all of the messages were sent, Ruby jumped off of the tower and let herself fall. She landed right next to Bumblebee. She'd delayed leaving long enough to understand how the tower worked.

 _She felt for the connection that her sister's bike had with Yang's soul._ They were much closer than the last time she'd looked for them. For once, the random path they took seemed to be helping her.


	8. Chapter 1-i

"Hey, do you know anything about the Anathema from Beacon?"

"No, sorry."

"I can't talk about it."

"..."

"Were you there for the Girl in Red?"

"Who wants to know?"

"You mean the giant?"

"I don't think she was that big, dear."

"That's not what Cye's boy said."

"Please, anything you can give me."

"I heard that one of them seduced half of her class."

"Weren't they White Fang? Or did they fight the White Fang?"

"Was one of them a Faunus?"

"IEven if I did know, that information would be classified."

"How is that classified?! It's all over the internet!"

"Sorry."

"Do you know what her name was?"

"Uhh, it was…"

"Something reddish…"

"Pyrope?"

"Also, classified."

"Look at this picture, the cat Faunus with black hair."

"Okay. She looks like a dirty criminal. No offense."

"Where'd her wings go?"

"I … Don't even."

"Do you know if she was always a Faunus?"

"Was she your girlfriend? I thought she liked girls."

"You know what, forget about it."

...

Sun fell onto a bench with a groan. They were in the middle of downtown Vale and nothing was working. "What is wrong with this city?"

"Maybe asked anyone who walks by with a weapon wasn't the best idea." Neptune joined him, fanning himself with the collar of his signature coat. "I've been trying all morning and I've still got nothing, not even a name."

"What? We've already got her name, it's Blake."

"It is? That doesn't sound red."

"Dude! Were you asking about the Girl in Red again?" Sun threw his arms in the air. "We already know her deal."

"But we don't know who she was or why she did it and she used to be a member of the team with Anathema." Neptune pointed to one of the groups of Atlas soldiers walking around. "They know something, I'm sure of it."

Sun sighed. He already knew why Neptune was so interested in her, it wasn't worth arguing about. Figuring her out wouldn't let him know if Blake was like him back in Vaccuo or actually was Anathema. His money was on the later, but wanted to be sure. "So Atlas… Do you know anyone from Atlas, because I don't?"

"Well there was that girl who really liked Sage, but she didn't come to the festival."

"Just great." Sun leaned forward, holding himself on the bench with his tail. "So we need to find someone from Atlas who's willing to tell us something. That'll be-"

He eyed another group of soldiers patrolling, completely stone faced.

"-real easy…"

"We could always go to Beacon and ask around there."

"Man, they're gonna be so tired of talking about that all of the time and... I really don't want to dig up all those bad memories if I can help it. They were classmates for a semester?"

"Yeah..." Neptune spaced out, head turning to the side as his eyes followed a girl.

She was tall, almost as tall as the guy holding her hand. They looked like one of _those_ couples, super touching and wearing complementary outfits no matter what. And those were some dangerous colors at that. He was all white and gold, from the edges of his armor to his blonde hair. She had a waist length silver ponytail and shiny silver dress.

"Hey, Neptune."

"Yeah?"

"Doesn't that guy's armor look familiar?"

His partner looked to the side and scratched his chin. "It does… But from where?"

Sun jumped off of the bench and started getting closer. "Come on, maybe his face'll tell us something."

Neptune joined in walking right behind them, listening in.

"I think I'm pretty close to figuring it out." The guy tapped the sword on his belt. "I can feel it, right on the edge of my… soul?"

"That's great, Jaune," The girl said with a giggle. "And soul is the right word."

"Yeah, the fire's just… I can almost grab it, but it's like there's a fence in the way. I can push my fingers through, but can never reach it."

"Hmm." She leaned closer, laying her head on his shoulder. "Do you think another late night study session would help?"

"Uhh…" Jaune chuckled and rubbed the side of his neck. "I might, but... I really should spend some time with my team."

"You could finally introduce me and then spend time in your own room."

"Nah, that'd be… super awkward. I'll take the surprise slaps on the butt over a chilly silence any day."

The girl sighed. "I told Pearl to stop doing that."

"It's fine, wierd, but... I just… Yeah."

Sun leaned toward Neptune and whispered, "So, what'd you think?"

"I feel like he's the one we're looking for." Neptune pulled his scroll out and opened a picture from the attack on Beacon. "The guy who stood up to her is named Jaune and his armor matches what the hero was wearing."

"Man, if he's that Jaune, he's gotta know, but…" Sun's heart was beating faster. They finally had a lead.

"You don't want to ruin their date." It wasn't a question.

"Yeah." Sun stared at them. On one hand, this was the best chance they had. On the other, it was kinda of a jerk move. "Maybe we can just follow along until they split up."

"That's sort of creepy."

"Do you have a better idea?"

"Hmm." Neptune stroked his non-existent beard again. "Nope."

Sun slowed down so they could get a bit further ahead and he wasn't overhearing everything. "They've gotta stop eventually."

Half an hour later, the couple was still going strong.

"Neptune," Sun sounded like a man who'd spent hours in the desert without any water. " I think we've passed this park three times."

"No… It was four." His partner was fanning himself with the collar of his jacket.

"Oh…" He swiped an apple from a fruit stand with his tail. As soon as they were out of the owner's sight, Sun took a big bite. "Don't they ever get hungry or need the bathroom?!"

"I don't know, but-" Neptune ran his fingers through his hair. "They're turning around."

Jaune looked Sun in the eyes. "So, uhh, are you two following us? We've been wandering in circles for a while."

"Well you see." Sun didn't look at either of them. "No, but sort of and well… Yes, kinda… Yeah, pretty much."

"Why?"

"Are you the Jaune that stared down the Girl in Red?"

"Yeah…" He hesitated for a moment. "Look, if you two want me to sign something for you, not right now."

"What? No, I just wanted to ask you about some stuff at Beacon."

"Uhh, what about? I know there's tour guides."

"So… You knew the Anathema and the Girl in Red, right?"

"Nope, I'm done here." He turned away, grimacing.

"Come on!" Sun threw his arms in the air. "Is there anyone else who does?"

"I really don't want to talk about it." Jaune started walking away. When Sun took a step, his girlfriend drew an inch of her own sword free and glared.

"Dude." Neptune nudged Sun. "Let's just go to Beacon and sleep."

"We were so close." Sun slumped over.

The flight up didn't take too much time. They even had a little daylight left to explore the campus with.

"Now what?" Neptune turned to the side to wink at a girl.

She raised an eyebrow and walked away.

"I'm thinking food. We've been running around all day." Sun gave him a pat on the back. One day it would work, probably when team SSSN was famous for winning the Vytal Festival Tournament.

Neptune nodded and they started off, only stopping when the sound of a camera came from the left.

Sun glanced to the side. There was a cute rabbit Faunus staring at him. "Did you just take a picture of my abs?"

"N-No!" Her cheeks lit up.

"Don't worry, I get it. But if you'd asked"- Sun turned to face her, taking a deep breath to puff his chest out and pointing with both hands. -"I could've given you a much better pose."

"I wasn't doing anything like that!"

"Hmm…" Sun stroked his chin. "You're protesting an awful lot. Right, Neptune?"

"Yeah." He clicked his tongue and winked.

"I swear I wasn't doing that, please."

Sun gave her a half lidded look for a couple second, before cracking up. "I'm just joking. I believe you… on one condition." He grinned as widely as he could.

"Uhh." She started shivering.

"Show us the way to the dining hall."

"I- uhh- right this way." She started walking as soon as she reached them, both joined.

"Thanks." Sun smiled normally. "By the way, I'm Sun and this is Neptune."

"A pleasure." Neptune held his hand out, smiling extra brightly.

She carefully shook it. "Velvet."

"So, are you here to watch or fight?"

"I expect I'll be doing a bit of both."

"Nice. What's your team like?"

"Well..."


	9. Chapter 2-1

Weiss landed in a crouch, blade toward her opponent and her free hand to the side. A cold fire burned within her soul as they fought. With each blow it grew stronger, driving her to further heights. She, of course, kept it quashed. She hadn't spent weeks learning to hide her power just to give it away in a practice spar.

Pyrrha was on her as soon as her knee hit the ground, flinging her shield and launching herself behind it. As she moved, Weiss flicked her sword down and cast a repulsion glyph. Pyrrha continued through, but her shield didn't.

As they clashed, the whir of Coco's minigun sounded and the bullets started flying. Weiss and Pyrrha both needed something to make their spars harder and their newest confidant was happy to provide. As they dueled, she riddled them with bullets.

Weiss blocked those heading toward her with a glyph and occasional blade blow, moving her body with unnatural agility to ensure none landed. Pyrrha bent most of them around her with her Semblance and blocked the remainder with her shield.

The two of the clashed again and again as they each tried to land the first decisive blow. Pyrrha couldn't allow Weiss to get a spell off, which she could even with both Pyrrha and Coco's guns focusing on her. Weiss couldn't let Pyrrha step back to her ideal spear range or close to the point where the larger girl's unarmed skills would dominate.

For several minutes, they danced across the floor, neither committing to a hard enough attack to push through. It was a battle of endurance and grace, one good blow would turn the tide due to that person having less Aura to land one of their own. In a real fight, Weiss would have an overwhelming advantage, so they agreed to go until the visible portion of her Aura fell to the normal tournament standard. The additional, inefficient, energy would not count.

As their bars dwindled lower and lower, Weiss seized her opportunity. With a flick of her sword, she created a repulsion glyph under her feet. A pulse of Essence made it blaze with power and launch her at Pyrrha so quickly that she could only react through instinct. The cold fire pushed outwards, allowing her arm to bend at an unnatural angle, getting the point of her rapier over Pyrrha's shield.

It threatened to go further, re-shape her body. She clamped down on the impulse. There was no need.

Her blow struck true, slamming into Pyrrha's sternum at the same time that an edge bit into her belly. Weiss glanced at the tournament screen. They were at six and five percent respectively, a double knockout that favored Pyrrha.

Clapping erupted from the stands overhead. Weiss snapped her eyes up to the reason they could not go harder even if she wanted to.

"That was simply wonderful!" An orange haired girl was loudly applauding. "Are you two entering the tournament? If so, I do hope to get the chance to face you."

Another girl, this one with blue hair and darker skin, pinched the bridge of her nose. "Can you please hurry? We're going to be late to our next appointment."

"Oh, right." The first girl leapt down, landing very heavily. "Salutations, Weiss Schnee, Pyrrha Nikos, and Coco Adel. I'm Penny and I have several questions I would like to ask you... if you have a moment."

Weiss took a breath to recenter herself and stepped toward Penny. "I have some time for you. Miss Penny?"

She drew the end of Penny's name out and gestured to go on.

"Splendid and Miss nothing, just Penny!" The girl completely ignored Weiss' implication and continued, "I suppose I should get right to it then. What do you know about Ruby?"

Weiss raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Well, she's a very interesting person and I *hic* just wanted to know some more about her. I thought it would be best to ask you since you were her partner." Penny smiled, all teeth.

"I see." _Weiss focused her Essence into her ears. The distinct sound of two microphones were coming from her hair._ They were appropriately prepared for two members of the Atlas Academy's favored tournament team. The only question was, did General Ironwood send them to try and test her or was it someone else in the military who suspected something? "I do know a bit about her, though it is strange that you know that. Most people forget her real name within hours, let alone other facts about her life."

"I- umm- guess that I'm just *hic* lucky?" Penny's smile wavered after the hiccup.

"Do you want some water?"

"No thank you." She didn't hiccup at all.

"Are you sure everything's alright?"

She hesitated, then hiccuped again. "Yes."

"Very well." Those were perhaps the worst lies Weiss had ever heard. "What did you want to know?"

"Umm…" She glanced to her partner. "Well, mostly just things about her. What food does she like? What did she do for fun? Who do-"

"Why?" Weiss cut her off. "She's the most wanted person in the entire world. There's no point to knowing that sort of minutiae."

"I-" Penny looked like she was about to cry. "I think it's important."

Weiss raised an eyebrow, matching Penny's partner's expression. If she was really that interested in Ruby, then she'd likely be able to be turned to Weiss' cause. Though, she may also be too much of a liability to even bring it up with.

"Well I... I think that if… If we want to find her then we should know more about her? Then we'll know what she might be doing?" The girl tried to smile.

"I'm afraid I can't remember a lot that for the same reason that many can't remember Ruby."

Weiss held her face still, _adding a second statement for Pyrrha. 'She's got a mic, don't reveal anything important.'_

"Oh…" Penny dropped her head. "Professor Goodwitch said that if anyone would know, you would.

Weiss barely maintained stillness. Was it really that easy? No, it couldn't be. "When did you speak with her about this?"

"Just a little while ago. We were coming out of a meeting with-"

Penny's partner loudly cleared her throat. "Penny."

"Oh, sorry. That's classified."

Coco stepped into view, raising an eyebrow at Weiss.

Weiss slightly shook her head and glanced at Coco, then flicked her eyes back to Penny. "It's no problem. I understand."

Coco nodded and stepped ahead of her. "I remember some stuff about her."

"Thank you!" Penny cheered, all hints of sadness immediately vanishing. "I think the first thing I'd want to know is… does she have any hobbies?"

"Umm… Weapons."

"Weapons?"

Pyrrha stepped next to Weiss and leaned in, whispering. "I can feel the microphones, along with a lot of other metal."

"Oh?"

"I think…" Pyrrha hesitated, briefly closing her eyes. "I think most of her body is cybernetic. Certainly more than anyone I've ever heard of."

"Interesting." Weiss had access to some of Atlas' latest research and full body replacements, including sensory organs, were possible. It were so expensive that only top operatives. or incredibly wealthy families. would be able to receive them. If that was true, it would explain the mic, though they couldn't count on there not being a backup recording. "If Ruby knew that, then it could explain her interest."

Weiss stepped back. Penny was engrossed with Coco, but her partner was watching Weiss like a hawk.

"Yeah, I saw her in one of the labs doing a lot of complex work on her scythe for weeks on end. She also had a few questions about how I managed to make my weapon." Coco held her purse out, then shifted it to the enormous gun. "I wasn't able to explain as much about the construction as she would have liked, my Semblance makes it easy."

Penny's eyes suddenly went wide. "So that's why she wanted to see the… *hic* technique for how I used my swords."

"Hmm…" Weiss glanced at her, noting the lack of any swords. "What exactly do you mean by technique?"

"Well-"

Penny's partner cut her off, "That isn't something we should just give out to our enemies in the tournament."

Weiss looked at the girl.

"Ciel Soleil. It's nice to meet you." She nodded towards Weiss.

"I'm not going to be participating in the tournament and would promise to not reveal your secret." Weiss met Ciel's gaze and smiled slightly. "Though I may go to Beacon, Atlas is still my home."

"I see…" Ciel pursed her lips. "We'll need to speak with the other members of my team before saying anything else."

"Of course." Weiss smiled. If she was reacting this poorly, there was no chance. "Would after lunch tomorrow work?"

Ciel checked her scroll. "Penny and I have half an hour free at fourteen hundred."

"I'll meet you both near the fountain then."

"Wow," Penny gaped at them. "Ruby was right. You two are really similar."

"Oh?" Weiss asked.

"Yes! She said that the picture I took of us last week was very…" Penny slowly went quiet.

"Last week?" Weiss and Ciel said at the same time.

Penny looked between them.

"Did Ruby contact you?" Weiss continued, stepping forward. Telling this girl anything was a trap, but Professor Goodwitch, whether she intended it or not, had put in bait too important to not trigger some of it.

Penny hiccupped. "N-No."

"You're certain?" Weiss _sent an additional meaning to Pyrrha. 'We need to know what Ruby said.'_

Weiss glanced at Pyrrha, then to the others with a raised eyebrow. A moment later, two of the pieces of metal Weiss had hidden within her own jacket moved, pressing against her. That was the signal they agreed on, something Pyrrha could do to confirm or deny an idea without revealing it to anyone else

"Penny." Pyrrha spoke as _Weiss wove her Essence into a veil surrounding them all._ "Have you spoken to Ruby recently?"

"I *hic* I haven't." Penny stepped back.

 _Weiss released her power, energy whirling around the group. "You don't need to worry. You're among friends."_

"You don't even know her." _Ciel crossed her arms as dull silver flashed in her eyes, along with Penny's._

"No, but we do know Ruby." _Weiss smiled and advanced, hiding her true meaning between other words. "Very well as a matter of fact."_

"You do?" Penny's eyes lit up, _still sparkling with silver._

"Yes, she was my teammate for a long time." Weiss continued, sounding slightly sad in her normal voice. ' _and the three of us happen to agree with her about the Anathema.'_

"You do?!" Both Penny and Ciel shouted, the first excited and the second horrified.

"Please, have you heard from her?" Weiss said sweetly, _using another burst of Essence to frighten Ciel so much she'd unable to act in a manner that would displease Weiss._

"Well, she mentioned you a lot in her email and also talked about you a lot."

"When did you speak to her?"

"The week before the… uhhh… right before the… Red night. She told me about what she'd learned about that Anathema-"

"Penny! Y-You-" Ciel started moving. Her entire body was shaking with fear, but she still tried to step forward.

Weiss silenced her with another glare. "Penny, one last question. Are you working with anyone in Atlas?"

"Oh, I shouldn't… but... " She leaned back and forth. "General Ironwood calls me up because I can remember Ruby really easily."

"Thank you." _Weiss released both of her effects. Almost all the tension vanished, replaced by both girls blinking._

Penny shivered and stepped back. "I'm sorry *hic*, but I *hic* haven't heard from her."

Coco and Pyrrha reacted slightly, stepping back.

"That's alright." Weiss smiled. "We can talk about other things tomorrow."

Penny paused for a moment. "I… Does that mean you also want to be friends?"

"Sure."

"That is stupendous!" She lept into the air. "I'll be sure to be there! Let's go!"

"Wait, but I…" Ciel turned around as Penny hooked her arm and let herself get dragged away.

After waiting for almost a minute, Coco coughed. "Well… That was illuminating."

"Hmm?"

"You sure it was a good idea to be that obvious?"

Weiss grinned. "I'm sure I don't know what you're talking about… and neither will they."

Compared to making objects invisible or hiding her own Aura, concealing the memory of others was easy.

"They won't be able to remember most of the conversation." Pyrrha chimed in.

"Mmh, scary," Coco said deadpan. Weiss hadn't expected any other reaction. "Schnee, did you ask me anything embarrassing?"

Weiss raised an eyebrow. She'd actually figured this out after her first talk with Coco, but needed verification of the effect. "You may have mentioned something about a… disreputable job you wished you could try."

She groaned, cheeks lighting up slightly. "Got it. Don't tell anyone about that."

"Of course." Weiss turned back to the door, leaving the topic even though Pyrrha looked interested. "We need to know what she knows."

"Are you going to bring her in as well?" Pyrrha walked to the edge of the room and collected their extra gear.

"No, she'd reveal us by accident." Weiss joined her, using Wind Dust to push Coco's spent casings into a corner. "But we need to know what Ruby told her, back then and recently."

"Why's that?" Coco asked.

"Because Ruby can see the future and makes events conspire so that her desires become reality. For instance, she thought I wanted to take over Beacon. She also wanted to help me." Weiss looked at her allies in a conspiracy brought about by her partner. "And here we are."

"That one's actually scary if you're right."

"Exactly." Weiss sighed. "I want to minimize the chance of her blindsiding us, which means we need to know her intentions."

They had a long period of silence.

"By the way, how has speaking with your teams gone?"

"No deep hatred, but also no knowledge of the truth." Coco shook her head. "Though, Velvet mentioned that there were a few people asking weird questions about Ruby."

"My team's said the same thing, though…" Pyrrha looked away. "We're still getting a lot of questions about stopping her."

Weiss adjusted the tie of her ponytail. "Get me some names. I'll be able to find out how serious they are."

* * *

Yang dangled her legs over the edge of an abandoned house, looking out at the city. It was the middle of the afternoon and everyone was out and about. Hundreds of people milled under her, living their lives in peace. When she closed her eyes, she could still feel the little points of danger coming from them, the light of their souls.

Most were so small she couldn't really feel them, little dots in the dark ocean surrounding her. Very few were bright enough to overcome the gloom. Blake was the only one easy to find and… she wasn't a threat anymore.

There was something wrong about that. Yang _knew_ Blake could still beat her, even with her newfound burning might. She could see the differences between their ability to fight and just how much Blake was holding back.

So, the threat wasn't really accurate, even though it felt right. What else would make her hair stand on end and her blood pump when she felt it?

It wasn't just the threat they posed to her. It had to be something else, something like the energy flowing around everywhere.

Actually, that could be it. Blake, Weiss, Ruby, and her all had very different feeling Auras. A couple of people at Beacon also had them, but she couldn't remember any in particular. The energy flowing around this city was unlike any of them. It felt… earthy for lack of a better word. The texture was like sandpaper when it touched the edges of her soul.

Just like the center of the Grimm nest that she activated, it also wasn't really moving. The flows trudged along like honey. If she really wanted to, she could use her own Aura to give them a spark and really make something happen. But… when she ignited the energy at the Grimm nest, it blew up after a few weeks of them living there. If that was all it took to kill the Grimm, destroying the areas they seemed to like living in, she'd have done it in a heartbeat. But doing that in a city would be catastrophic if they always exploded…

She'd know in a couple of weeks. If the new tower was still standing, then it might be safe.

Yang glanced down, watching a familiar Aura flare slightly when it fell. It was Cole, one of the older members of… her cult, and his son, Roy.

Roy hopped up onto a wall, laughing at the mud drip off of his dad's face. He was so small, both in body and soul. If his Aura was awake, she'd be worried about either of them fighting a single Beowolf. An explosion like the one she and Blake laughed off would kill both of them.

The explosion had burned with an unnatural fire. A fire that raged so hot that it didn't just burn physical things. When it had engulfed her, she felt the edges of her Aura igniting, rather than shielding her body. It was the purest form of the fire within her soul and… the thought of unleashing that on anyone was… There would be no coming back from that. Unleashing the least of them allowed her to tear through someone's Aura like it wasn't there. She could feel her unused potential practically begging to be released. The flames of sure death which would poison any who felt their touch.

She hadn't gone back to the site of the explosion, but her scroll told her everything she needed to know. The plants which had survived the initial burst had all perished.

How long did she have before she'd need to reach for those flames? How long would it be before she couldn't contain them anymore or just stopped caring about the damage they caused? She only needed to slip up once…

She held a hand up to the sunlight streaming through her fingers. Yellow-green flames danced between her fingers.

What could she do to keep herself from becoming a real monster when everyone around her was already so small? If she wanted to, she could destroy this city without anyone knowing it was her and she'd just started learning how to use that dark energy. If she grabbed ahold of it, how much power could she push into the world and shape it into whatever image she wished…

" _What do you mean this is mine?" She stared at the projected landscape on the table._

" _The previous holder of your Exaltation stipulated that rulership of his lands would pass to the next bearer." The daimyo, a Terrestrial who was her elder ten times over, smiled and zoomed the projection in. "This is the capital city, where he spent most of his rule."_

" _But I'm…" She ran her fingers through her hair, grasping at straws. "I'm not a…. Any sort of…"_

" _Please, Princess Tialeth, your mastery of Essence is still new. Any worries that you have will surely sort themselves out in time."_

 _Her Essence... right. The energy that infused her. She called upon it just like she did when she used a blade and the words she needed became obvious. "It makes little sense for me to command so much territory. My Exaltation was earned through besting a young Terrestrial in the arena. I'm no leader, all I know how to do is fight and show off."_

" _You have already made a step on the path. And you need not worry about administrations of your orders. This land is yours to lead, your prefects will make sure that it becomes shaped to your desires."_

 _She sighed._

" _If you have a message to the girl you fought, I can pass it along. I'll be visiting my fifth great grandniece soon to congratulate her on aiding your rise."_

" _I… Tell her that she almost had me with the final feint." It wasn't worth arguing with him. If the Deliberative said she was in charge of that land, then she was. "Is there anything I need to decide on right now?"_

" _There is only one item that needs your immediate attention." He moved the projection again. "Prince Opal of Youth had ordered this land cleared before he perished, but had not specified what is to be built there."_

 _She was the champion of the greatest mortal arena so it would follow that her lands would have an even greater one. "I think…"_

 _She turned as she thought, glancing at the mirrors surrounding her. As her thoughts spun, her caste mark appeared on her brow._

She was so young.

Yang gulped. Visions of her early life were rare, but the face of the monster in her head at that time was so soft, so vulnerable. She'd barely been older than Yang herself and her eyes were full of innocence.

She'd seen a vision of the construction when she was trying to learn to wield the energy flows. It was supposed to be a coliseum that fed on the energy and valor of the fighters within. Some time later, the monster realized that blood would feed it much better and had it remodeled. Even further on, matches to the death became common.

What was to stop Yang from doing the same if she listened to Blake? Telling the cult to not hurting people could easily turn into controlling them 'for their own good', just like the old kings and queens of Vale. She was already unassailable and if Tialeth went that bad with other Anathema to check her...

Why did life have to be so complicated? Why couldn't she just wander around punching Grimm?

 _Because you are more._

"Shut up," She muttered under her breath.

 _Crush them._

"I said shut up!" Her flames threatened to flare free, but she clamped them down, kept them inside.

 _I said nothing else._

 _Destroy them._

The voices were different.

 _They're afraid. They're going to kill you._

Yang looked around frantically. No one was on the roof with her. She breathed rapidly, focusing on her other senses.

 _There was an Aura above her._

She looked up, nothing was there, but she could still feel its presence. _It was terrifying and-_ Yang clenched her teeth. That felt just like Weiss when she was trying to help them practice.

 _The Aura pulsed. Goosebumps ran up her spi-_ She forced them back down.

There was something here, something she couldn't see.

 _Burn._

"No… No." She didn't need to take this. She was Anathema, an unstoppable monster.

 _Find it and kill it!_

For once, she and the demon agreed, but that didn't help her.

"How?" She growled.

 _Burn it!_

"Not helpful!" Yang dashed to the other side of the roof. _The Aura followed her._

 _Kill._

 _It pulsed again and a wave of dread-_ Yang forced the fear back down, it wasn't real.

Wasn't real… Like a ghost or the energy that no one could see.

But her flames could burn everything...

Yang turned toward it. She could burn flesh, ignite fires that consumed all, and even burn souls. If this thing existing anywhere, she could burn it. _She took a deep breath and opened her soul to the burning core within. Invisible heat seeped out of her soul and into her skin._

Her right hand ignited with yellow-green flames, the green was stronger now, but her natural color was still present. _Small flies popped into existence, their bodies burning like candles as they flew away from her._

Yang raised a leg into the air and _twisted the air around her foot. As she stomped, a pulse of green flames erupted from the roof._

More flies appeared, their bodies shattered by the pulse of energy and burning hatred. They dissolved just like Grimm.

But Yang didn't care about them for her real target was also there.

A floating ball covered in bony protrusions appearing with a screech as its body was engulfed by the fire. The tentacles coming out of its mouth lashed toward Yang, but _she ignited her arm and batted them away._

She stepped forward, cracking the roof, and punched. Her unenhanced fist moved through it without any resistance. _When her hand was in the center, she ignited it and squeezed._

 _Her arm sparked from the energy formed around it as it forced the creature's flesh aside._ With a mighty pull, she tore the creature's core free and it started dissolving as well.

Yang took a second to watch it before dropping into the back alley. She needed to get back to Blake with the news of… invisible Grimm that affect people's emotions... Holy shit that was bad.

She skid to a stop as the weight of that realization really hit her. She'd never, _never_ heard of anything like that from any Hunter. If… if only the Anathema could do something to them...

"Fuck." She redoubled her speed, blitzing to the end of the alley as quickly as she could and _unleashing her own Aura. She wish she could have a fun brawl so much and now the entire crowd would too._ The distraction was accomplished as the first punch was thrown.

She sped through the market, tapping people to the side to get them out of her way. Only one blocked her successfully, a pissed off man in a long brown coat who retaliated with a powerful kick. _His Aura was strong._

Was he the city's Hunter? She'd been avoiding any powerful Aura just in case.

Yang caught his blow with her gut and let him knock her away. For a moment, it looked like he was going to chase her. Then someone broke an oar over his head and he lept back into the brawl.

Her head pounded and the demon screamed when she turned and ran, but she needed to get to Blake, not have a fun fight.


	10. Chapter 2-2

"You asked to see me?" Weiss stepped into Professor Goodwitch's office, her arms full of papers.

"Yes, for a review of your courses and a look at your research." The Professor was seated behind her desk. She had bags under her eyes and her hair was badly in need of a good stylist. Ruby, Blake, or Yang probably did something again.

"Very well." Weiss closed the door and took a seat. "I suspect that the review would be simplest."

She pulled her scroll open. "You've defied all expectations for a TA and a number of students are wondering if you're going to go on to become a Professor before you graduate."

"As nice as that could be, I would have more of an impact in other fields."

"I would imagine so," Professor Goodwitch sighed. "How has your new spell to contact the Anathema been progressing?"

"I'll be testing it soon"- Weiss crossed her arms -" and it will be useful for more than just that."

There was no point in denying her real intentions. Professor Goodwitch already knew what she was and could easily see what she wanted to do.

"For one, we could use it to send high density information to General Ironwood, or other members of the Maiden stewards, completely securely."

"We have secure communications."

"It may _also_ allow us to contact Ruby, who has not responded to anyone, and convince her to remove the curse." Weiss technically had received Ruby's message, but her partner hadn't responded to additional emails.

"That would be very helpful; even though it would not change her fate."

"I'm well aware of that. In fact, I'd be disappointed if you didn't try."

"Then why would you convince her to release the curse?"

"She's stopping you from killing people that need to be killed and I'm also confident that you will fail to kill her." Weiss smiled slightly. "Ruby is difficult for people to remember at the best of times and while she is likely the most dangerous of us to society at large, she does want to help people."

"Miss Rose is a problem. However, she's a problem in a similar way that other Anathema have been before, but more successful in crippling those who would work against her." Professor Goodwitch didn't match the smile. "And she is hardly the most dangerous of you. She isn't controlling students and isn't within spitting distance of taking over a Kingdom."

"I'm _controlling_ no one and attempting a coup would be counter productive. It would be immediately obvious what's happening and all of the resources that taking over would provide would dry up in an instant as trade crashes to a halt."

"How is it then that Mister Pico went from nearby failing Sorcery 101, shocking everyone when he passed the trials, to getting an A on his first exam in 201?"

"I found out what inspired him most and made him think about what she would think about his lack of effort along with how happy his little sister be if he succeeded." He'd also been to office hours a number of times and giving him a little extra help to make his sister happy was worth it.

"In other words, you forced him to change his behavior."

Sometimes Weiss really hated Vale. "I _advised_ him on how to become a better person. If I really wanted to change him, he wouldn't unilaterally hate the Anathema like he does right now."

"So you did use your abilities to control a student?" Professor Goodwitch briefly looked like she was about to be sick.

"As entertaining as it might be to argue, is this going anywhere besides a disagreement about what the worst thing the Anathema can do is?"

She took a deep breath and released it in a huff. "Yes, I need your assistance with a spell. There are problems with it that are beyond my ability to solve."

"So…" Weiss took a deep breath. "Immediately after disparaging me for using my powers in the manner that Vale most fears the Anathema, you ask me to also use them for the reason that Atlas does."

"One spell is not civilization ending. This isn't inventing a new method of sorcery."

"You already have me researching soul manipulation beyond the level that the best in Atlas have managed. Forgive me for being worried about making Beacon more fragile when I either die or have to leave." Everyone depending on Weiss for new spell research would be crippled when she left. It would be worse if it turned out that she was the only one who could maintain some vital piece of infrastructure that the new spell allowed for.

Professor Goodwitch took a deep breath and sighed.

"I'm not refusing, just pointing out the hypocrisy." Weiss rolled her eyes. If they really wanted to weaken themselves, then she would because it also helped ingratiate herself with Professors Goodwitch and Ozpin. "What's the spell?"

"Demon summoning."

Weiss almost flinched. Of all the possible answers she expected, that was not on the list. "I thought you were working on a new form of scrying."

"You're correct. Demon summoning research had to be delayed because my original assistent... left."

"And they were?"

"Miss Rose."

Weiss needed to find a way to make Ruby respond to her messages. What plan or goal could that have been a part of? "I see."

"The spell works, but any creature that appears is immediately torn to pieces as if it was a fleshy Grimm that had just been killed."

"But they're alive?"

"Yes and they scream in the language of Sorcery."

Yang would be beyond angry with her if she literally summoned a bunch of demons into the world. At the same time, this was an source of potentially unlimited information. "And you can cast the spell yourself, no need for me to fix that?"

"I have a ritual room underneath Beacon for its use."

The choice was obvious. "I'll see what I can do."

"Please do." She handed Weiss a very old tome with several bookmarks poking out of it. "If we're lucky, one of these demons may know enough about the nature of the soul to save Amber. Assuming the book is correct about them killing Aura users, they would also make formidable soldiers."

Dammit Ruby… No, no, this couldn't be tied into Ruby's plan to help Weiss take over Beacon. There was such a thing as being too paranoid. "I suspect that Atlas's automatons will be a… more efficient choice in that regard."

"While you may be correct, they haven't shared the secret to build them."

"Very well." Weiss flipped to the first bookmark and frowned. The world that both Yang and Tialeth used to describe the realm of demons was central to the spell array. It was possible that Yang might be alright with summoning them for information and then quickly getting rid of them. Weiss doubted she would ever accept summoning a demon army... even if it could destroy the Grimm...

That was still so tempting and exactly what she needed Pyrrha for. Coco… had ethics too similar her own. Maybe one of the people Coco wanted her to speak with would also be useful as a sounding board.

"Is there anything else we need to cover?"

"Something that will put your unnatural powers to good use." Professor Goodwitch grinned. "'Paper work and grading."

"Wonderful," Weiss said without any inflection. They'd be working on that task for at least an hour even if she went as quickly as possible.

* * *

Nora drummed her fingers against the table and stared at the flag of Beacon. There was a slow breeze that barely moved it, but it was definitely moving.

"How can a flag move and not move?" She mumbled under her breath and looked back at the book Weiss gave her. "No, wait… That's wrong. How could one person see it moving and another not?"

She kicked her legs back and forth, turning the riddle over in her brain. The pole was thick enough that someone could stand on one side of it and not see the movement. And if someone was talking to her, then she also wouldn't hear it… But that didn't feel right.

Ren would know the answer and she knew he'd give it to her if she asked, but that was cheating. Weiss wouldn't have given this book to Nora if she meant for Ren to figure them all out. It was a riddle and she needed to do something with it.

No, it wasn't just a riddle, it was a sorcery riddle. She needed to think like a sorceress… or was it sorcerer for both guys and girls? Weiss said that a sorcerer put a bit of himself into every spell they cast.

Nora looked back up at the flag swaying slowly back and forth in the wind.

"I am the flag." Nora rocked in her seat, matching the flags movement. She shifted slowly to the left and then to the right. "How can I move without moving?"

As she stared at the flag Nora, she felt the sun warming her face and the gentle breeze kiss her face. The only sound was the soft humming of the lights and the wiping of the flag. Everyone else was in class.

It was so calm.

Nora closed her eyes to enjoy the day. The rocking slowed down, her head dipped.

Maybe if she took a quick nap then… No wait, she didn't need to think about that right now, she needed to focus!

Nora took a deep breath and focused on her heartbeat. She pushed the rest of the world away, only listening to herself. That was what Ren recommended for meditating, even if she'd never been able to get it to work before.

After a couple minutes of trying to not think about waving flags, she realized it didn't exactly work this time either. But, even with that stupid, distracting whipping, the meditation had managed something. She couldn't feel her Aura like Ren said he could, but it did get her to stop fidgeting and focus on the riddle.

She went over all of the different flavors of energy that sorcerers used. The flags were supposed to be moving. It could be journeys flavored, going to a different place. Flags usually symbolized places and the two kids looking at the flags could be in different places that were really the same place, like two temples on the opposite sides of Vale!

Nora thought about it a little more. No, that felt silly, it had to be more than that.

The flags were moving, but not in the sense of taking a trip… What if instead of physically moving they meant emotionally. A flag could be art and one of the kids could be thinking about how they felt about the flag.

That idea felt nicer, but something was still missing.

"Okay. Elements, magic, Dust... gods... maybe?" Nora mumbled to herself.

Pyrrha had been going on about gods and astrology for a long time. The titles of the gods that she was talking about were also sort of magic flavors. Art was… Serenity? Yeah, that was right.

Serenity was also about happiness and joy and love and marriage and sex… Flags probably weren't about most of those, but people were.

The people saw something different in each of the two flags. One of them saw the flag moving and the other didn't. That could be art, it could be… intimacy. Because if that flag represented something one of the people cared about a lot it would be moving to that person.

It clicked. The riddle she'd just solved was all about what someone who needed to leave his monastery to walk his own path.

To that man, the flag he once called home may or may not be as moving as it was to someone who cared about it a lot.

It wasn't the flag that was moving, it was the people's hearts and souls. The same thing could be completely different for two different people.

Nora felt a warm, fuzzy feeling in her belly. That felt like the real answer…

The fuzzies were replaced by a lump. Didn't Pyrrha worship the same gods as the Girl in- no wait, her name was Ruby. Ruby and Pyrrha definitely had some sort of connection there. Did they see their goddess the same way as each other?

She thumbed through the actual sorcery book. The greater aspects could be divided into smaller ones. So Battles had a bunch of different signs, which had their own meanings. Pyrrha was Spear, she'd said so herself. If Nora had to guess, then she'd say Ruby was Gauntlet, because she was terrifying, or Lightning Bolt, because she was really violent.

But… that didn't match up with her other memories from before the night she turned into the Girl in Red. The dorky girl who loved her scythe couldn't fit into that.

Hmm, the energy of the stars was also associated with subtlety, secrets, and manipulation. Was the Girl in Red the real Ruby or was she a…

Nora placed her fingers on the previous page, hesitating. She'd looked over the aspects of the sun's energy before, but hadn't really thought about it. It was power, dominance, skill, and sorcery.

The other Anathema woman had controlled their minds and Ruby'd lived with two of them all semester. Could the Girl in Red be something they forced her into her brain?

Nora shivered and remembered what it was like to be under Anathema control, about to kill Ren. Ruby'd stopped when Jaune, Ren, and Nora stepped up to fight her. Making her fight Professor Goodwitch would've be easy, Ruby'd been arguing with her all semester.

Was that it? Was she still under control and…

Ruby wasn't Anathema. When Nora'd asked Professor Goodwitch and Weiss, they both said so. The Anathema couldn't be brought back from the demons possessing their bodies, but maybe if Nora just sat down and focused, she'd be able to free the real girl trapped inside that monster?

Nora bit her finger and took a deep breath. She needed to learn this and... the commands from her anathema training were still there. If there was ever a time she needed them to help her focus, it was now.

But... she hesitated, tensing up when she felt the tendrils of Anathema power coming back. She… She needed Ren. He'd be able to make her stop if something bad happened and… and…

And some people were walking right towards her.

"Umm, excuse me?" A dark skinned girl with green hair waved. "You wouldn't happen to be Nora Valkyrie would you?"

"Yep." Nora nodded, watching the short girl with her hair tied up in two ponytails. There was something familiar about the way she walked. Maybe it was the rapier on her belt? No, that was too plain.

"Ha," The first girl looked at the boy and snickered. "Told you."

"Fine, fine, you win this time."

"Soooo…" Nora drew the word out. "What can I do for ya? I'm kinda in the middle of something."

"Sorry." The first girl smiled and held out her hand. "I'm Emerald. We can from Haven to watch the tournament."

"You're not fighting?" Nora quirked her head to the side. "You look pretty tough to me."

We're-"

"Cheerleaders." The boy cut her off.

"Knock it off." She snapped at him. "Sorry, we were going to enter the tournament, but our leader had… an accident and can't fight right now."

"Oh, that sucks. Is he okay?"

"It's she and… She's…"

"A cripple." The boy interrupted again.

"-healing." Emerald frowned, gritting her teeth so obviously that Nora could see them move. "Anyway, we heard all about your team and how you're Beacon's favorites. Also about… everything that happened last semester."

"Uhh…" Nora'd told that story so many times it was getting as old as Professor Port.

"But, we wouldn't want you to think about something like that on an empty stomach, so I thought we could get lunch first." She pulled out a very… boyish wallet.

"Hey!" The boy shouted, trying to snatch it back, and failing.

Nora looked at the book of riddles and the book of sorcery. She really did need Ren's help now so… "Sure thing, but there'd better be pancakes."

"Sure… sure."

* * *

"We need to talk, now!" Yang dashed up to Blake and grabbed her arm. _Blake read between the lines to her true meaning. 'Something really bad just happened.'_

"Give me a moment." Blake said to Rusty, standing up from her seat. "I should be right back."

"I get it." The boy nodded, smiling at both of them.

"What's happening?" Blake sent Yang a mental message. ' _And what's really happening?'_

"There's a riot in the market." Yang gasped. ' _And it's my fault.'_

"What?!" Blake shouted so loud that everyone around them was staring. She spoke again, quieter. "I mean, what?"

"Let's go somewhere that we can talk." Yang looped her arm around Blake's waist and kicked off.

As they arced through the air, Blake whispered, "Just doing that reveals a lot."

"I know, but it's less than I already did."

Blake frowned; that was a problem.

Yang bounced them from building to building until they were on top of an old apartment complex.

"What happened?" Blake checked over the side to make sure no one was on the street.

"I lit a building on fire and started a brawl so I could get away."

"Why?" Blake knew Yang well enough to know that she wouldn't just do something like that for no reason.

"Watch my hand." Yang held her arm put, palm up, and ignited it. Greenish wisps were visible within it now, not just her normal yellow ones. She swung her arm around and ignited a bunch of flies which hadn't been near her before.

"What are those?"

"I don't know, but they aren't the only thing I burned." Yang took a deep breath. "There was some sort of tentacle Grimm that… Did things like what Weiss did when she was training with us. You know, the aura of absolute fear thing?"

A shiver ran down Blake's spine. When Weiss unleashed everything she could, Blake had been so scared she froze, unable to do anything in case it annoyed Weiss. "Okay, that's… really bad, but isn't enough to light a building on fire."

"It also spoke to me. It tried to make me kill everyone around me and… if Weiss hadn't made us practice recognizing that and fighting her off…"

Blake grabbed Yang's non-burning hand. "You wouldn't."

"I don't know that. What if it got me when I was asleep or already mad or..."

"Yang," Blake hesitated. She needed to find some way to get through to her. "I don't believe you'd ever do something like that."

"I don't think we can rely on… faith." Yang stopped the fire, but the bugs kept burning. "Blake… Have you ever heard of anything like this before? Phantom Grimm that can speak to people and control them."

"Wasn't there a... " Blake wracked her mind to separate the books she'd read for fun from the actual text books on Grimm they had at Beacon. "A Possession Grimm? I think we were supposed to cover those next, er, this semester."

"Yeah, Geists. They take over stuff." Yang continued when Blake raised an eyebrow. "Uhh, like trees, and rocks, and… whiskey barrels."

Blake raised an eyebrow.

"My Uncle Qrow hates them because one tried to literally drown him in liquor…" Yang shrugged. "Anyway, they build giant bodies to fight with, but are just as vulnerable as any other Grimm."

"Which these aren't?"

"I stuck my hand through it and could only touch it when I lit it on fire." Yang threw a quick punch. "I… I needed to let more of the dangerous parts of the fire out in order for that to happen and I can't close them off."

"That's… not so bad." blake gave her another squeeze. "if it only hurts Grimm, then you should be fine."

"It is really bad." Yang dropped her head. "Because I think we're the only ones who can do anything about them."

"The two of us?" If that was true, then that might be the crack in Yang's logic she needed. "There isn't anything particularly special about us."

Yang raised her head, pouting at Blake. "Blake, you know that's not true. We're Anathema and…"

"And this may be something that only the Anathema can do?"

"Yeah. This is big. Bigger than anything else I've ever heard of." Yang squeezed Blake's hand. "If we're really the only ones who can fight these type of Grimm then…"

"Then?"

"Then I think you might be right about the cult." Yang's voice was so soft that Blake could barely hear it. "I was pointed at them when I was searching for this Tyrion. He'll probably know more about them or at least point us in the right direction."

"You're going to tell them?"

"I- I think so. I just need to figure out what to say."

"I could prepare something for you."

"That'd be nice." Yang leaned her head up for a kiss.

Blake gave her a quick one. "How about after the big celebration dinner tomorrow?"

"Sure… What're they celebrating again?"

"Someone getting married and a bunch of old members who moved to other cities are coming back. "

"More sources of info, I guess. If we can find god of this Cult of the Nightmare Queen, then…" Yang groaned. "Let's bring it up with Carmen after all of that's done. I don't want to ruin someone else's celebration by telling them one of their gods is here."

Blake couldn't help imagining Yang officiating, which would probably make them even happier. It wasn't exactly the sort of thing Yang would do though and so she shouldn't laugh at the thought, even if it would help Yang so much to have those people thank her for being herself.


	11. Chapter 2-3

_She stepped into the ballroom, heels clicking against the marble. Spotlights followed her, turning on as she approached the center of the room. A solitary singer was waiting for her there, her own gown of silver glittering as she swayed from side to side. Her back was turned as the song played._

 _She sang a slow, sorrowful song about a girl locked within a cage of her own design. It crested as she tried to withdraw and build it up even more, only to end before anything about her life resolved._

" _Hello, Yang." The singer turned toward her, more dolled up than Yang had ever seen her._

" _Hey, Weiss." Yang stepped up and wrapped her arms around her. It had been months._

" _Yang," Weiss kissed her lightly. "Just so you know, this is a dream."_

" _What're you talking about?" Yang squeezed her harder. "If this was a dream you wouldn't be wearing that much dress and the music would be way different."_

 _Weiss rolled her eyes, "You're asleep, I sent you a dream so that we could speak."_

 _Yang glanced back and forth. The music had started up again. It was a… classical piece that she was sure she'd heard somewhere before. All of the couples surrounding them stepped toward each other and started to dance._

" _Come on. "Weiss held a hand to the side, clearly waiting for Yang to grab it._

" _I don't know how to dance like this." Yang didn't._

" _Sure you do, this is a dream after all." Weiss smiled at her, earrings glittering in the light._

" _Don't blame me when I catch your toes." Yang took her hand and started moving._

 _It was easy to catch the beat. One... two... three… two, two, three, three, two, three, four, two, three: Yang tapped the beat in her mind as the dance began._

 _She started with a slow turn, keeping Weiss close as they rotated around in place. A second rotation brought a smile to her face as her feet moved on their own and they stepped to the outside of the floor, following behind the others._

 _Yang stepped and spun, twirling Weiss like a fairy princess. Again and again they glided across the floor, slipping past their friends as they moved. Yang could make out all of them there. Jaune and Pyrrha, Ren and Nora, Pyrrha and… some girl Yang didn't know…_

" _Wait a minute." Yang snapped her head back and forth. There were two Noras… And now that she was paying attention, two Rens... along with three Pyrrhas._

" _It's a dream, anything is possible." Weiss nodded her head to the corner where Ruby was dancing with… her scythe… and somehow managed to be spun around by it._

" _Right, but-" Yang twirled Weiss again, interrupting the spin with a hand on her lower back. "Why this?"_

 _Weiss smiled and the action froze, the colors began fading to grey. They were alone. "There's going to be a dance at Beacon soon; I thought that you would've wanted to go."_

" _I mean… yeah, but I don't think this is the sort of dancing you'd see there." Yang shook her head. "For one, there's no way Ruby'd be able to do that in heels… or even without them."_

" _Probably not, but I thought that you'd never had a chance to dance like that before." Weiss sat down, a chair materializing from thin air behind her. As she leaned forward, a table appeared as well. The music and dancers finished, fading away and leaving only the silver table behind. Moments later a chair for Yang appeared._

 _Yang kicked the chair out and sat on it backwards, her dress shifting into her hunter outfit. "So, what else is there? You wouldn't do all of this just to dance with me."_

 _Weiss let her head fall slightly, face changing from the softly smiling mask to utter exhaustion. "Do you have any idea how long it's been since I did anything remotely resembling fun? Months, literal months of nothing, but work."_

" _Weiss…" Yang held a hand towards her._

 _In an instant, the mask was back up. "I didn't send you this message to make you sad, even if having both you and Blake around would make me feel better. I sent it to give you an experience you wouldn't otherwise have and warn you."_

" _What's going on?" If something was getting to Weiss, of all people, that much, it had to be big._

" _I'm not sure how much you've paid attention to the news. Frankly, I wouldn't blame you for ignoring it completely, but there have been a lot of changes thanks to Ruby." Weiss folded her hands in front of her, eyes shining as the mist behind her shifted. "The most significant of them is that the Atlas military was called in to help Vale with their Anathema problem while Vale's Hunters are incapable of fighting."_

 _Yang slowly nodded, stomach falling to the ground. She knew Atlas was around, she'd been attacked by them often enough, and that Hunters all around Vale were cursed in some way, but not that Ruby was the cause. Though… as soon as Weiss said that, it made sense. Who else would be able to pull something like that off? But… "But… Ruby wouldn't do something like that."_

" _Wouldn't you if it meant helping her?"_

" _Of course I would!" Yang pounded on the table. "But, I'm a bad person. Ruby isn't."_

" _And Ruby wanted to make sure they didn't kill you."_

 _Yang didn't really know what to say to that._

" _She's being hunted by everyone because of how much she cares." The symbols of the kingdoms appeared behind Weiss, slowly rotating. "She hasn't been caught due to what I have to assume is a stroke of luck."_

" _That's… good." She didn't know what else she could say._

" _Which brings me to the reason I'm sending you everything right now." The image changed to a map of the region they were in. Ruby's symbol appeared on it, trailing behind Yang's own. "I've been tracking Ruby as best I can. While I don't know how far away she is right now, she's close."_

 _Yang gulped. She… what the hell was she going to say to Ruby._

" _Yang, there's something very important that I need you to do until she finds you."_

 _She nodded._

" _Keep yourself under control and do not, under any circumstances, get your body taken over by Tialeth." Weiss' voice was ice. "I don't know how Ruby's changed since she left, but I can't imagine her reacting well to you losing control of your body. That is, quite literally, one of the most common theories about the nature of the Anathema."_

" _Shouldn't be too hard." It wasn't like she wanted to lose control of her body like that and it hadn't even happened since she learned how to do first aid. "Anything else?"_

" _Please keep yourself as safe as possible." Weiss reached across the table and grabbed Yang's hand. "I know it may be hard to believe, but there are more people at Beacon who care about you than just me and we're trying to make it possible for both you and Blake to come back."_

" _I- I never dreamed that…"_

" _I know. I didn't either, but that's Ruby's influence for you."_

" _What do you mean?"_

" _It will make more sense in person, when I can actually answer complicated questions."_

 _Yang sat still for a moment. "But... you've been answering mine-"_

" _Yang." Weiss cut her off. "This conversation is a dream. I'm not going to know anything you're thinking right now."_

" _I… But… But I'm saying things." If this was all Weiss guessing how she'd react, that'd be really creepy._

" _I created this dream for you. It isn't a two-way method of communication." Weiss conjured a computer screen. "Think of it as a video email where I hired an actor to play your part and then inserted your consciousness in her body via sympathetic connections."_

 _Yep, really, really creepy and… "Sympa-what?"_

" _I had to make a message for you and then forge a connection between it and your soul so it would be delivered."_

" _How?"_

" _I burned one of your socks." Weiss smirked. "That was the fuel for the spell and your ownership of it hadn't faded."_

" _Jerk." Yang made a face… or, Weiss made her make a face… Even if it was exactly the face she would make in this situation. "Now you need to send me another to make it even."_

" _Oh, I'm planning to. There's a lot more that I need to let you and Blake know."_

" _You sent Blake one?"_

" _Of course."_

" _What was it?"_

" _You'll need to ask her, but"- Weiss snapped and the mist behind her started moving -"let's do something fun before you wake up."_

 _A race track appeared, Bumblebee's engine purring underneath Yang. Weiss was on a similar bike… which didn't actually resemble any motorcycle Yang was familiar with. But, if this was all Weiss, then maybe she just made something cool._

" _Ready?" Weiss smiled at her._

 _Yang revved her engine._

 _The racing lights started counting down._

 _Red… Yellow… Green…_

 _Yang-_

-slammed face first into the ground.

She pushed herself back up, flipping to her feet with her fists raised at… her bed… that she'd just fallen out of... Missing out on what would probably have been an awesome race and… Was the shower running?

"Blake?" She called out, stepping into the bathroom. Her partner was showering, without any mist.

"Yang?" Blake gasped.

"What're you…" Yang stuck her hand under the water, ice cold. "Why?"

"I need to not be... distracted while we're shopping."

"Did… did you just have a weird dream directed by Weiss too?"

Blake slowly nodded, cheeks bright red.

"Ohh, what did she do?" Yang smiled and chuckled.

"N-Nothing."

"That's not a nothing face."

"She… Told me some of what's happening and…"

"And?"

"And then she recreated the opening scene from one of my books…"

"Ohhh," Yang rubbed her hands together. "Which one?"

"I'm not telling you." Blake mumbled through her teeth.

"The Ninja one?"

"No!" Blake shouted, cheeks flaring. "There was just kissing!"

Yang nodded, smiling as smugly as she could.

"Can we please stop talking about this?" Blake's ears were all the way down.

"I dunno, I kinda feel left out now. I didn't get a sexy dream."

"Yang."

"Okay, okay.." Yang stepped back and grabbed her brush. She needed to take baby steps with Blake's level of comfort. "Did she tell you anything we need to do before the dinner?"

"Not really. I'd be able to handle it, but…" Blake shrugged. "Coming out to Carmen comes first. Ruby _probably_ won't find us tonight, so we can figure out what to say to her afterward."

"Yeah." Yang nodded, brushing her hair. What could they even say to her? 'We haven't been trying to hurt people? We know about a big scary Grimm thing? There's a Grimm cult we're hunting?' All of those sounded ridiculous.

They needed to do this right, with both Carmen and Ruby.

* * *

"Hey, hey, you need to try this." Yang bumped into Blake and forced a glass of wine into her hands. Somehow, she hadn't stained the fancy red dress she rented. "It's amazing!"

Blake rolled her eyes, but took the glass. After swirling it around a couple of times, people always did that in movies even though she didn't know why, she took a sip… and barely resisted the urge to grimace.

"Good, right?" Yang's eyes were so bright they were almost on fire.

"It's.. something?" Blake choked the overly… bitter? … sour? … She really wasn't sure what to describe it as except that it left her feeling like she needed to drink two glasses of water.

"You don't like it?" Yang pouted.

"It's…" Blake quickly downed the rest of the glass, resisting the urge to cough. "It's tolerable."

Yang sighed. "And here I thought it was super sweet and delicious."

"Yang, you…" Blake really didn't know what to say to that. "What type of wine was it?"

"I don't know what Mistral wine names mean." Yang looked at her glass. "A dryish red?"

Blake sighed. "I'll find something else to drink."

She turned back to the dance floor as she made her way to the far end of the warehouse where the bar was set up. The happy couple had been dancing out there since the reception started. So had Carmen. She and her husband had been the second couple on the floor, only stopping to grab water.

Blake smiled at them. It was nice to be around such happy people, even if it made her own plans more difficult. Carmen, as the one who officiated the wedding, had been so busy that Blake hadn't managed to get a word in.

When she finally reached the bar, it was covered in full wine glasses.

"Not your thing?" The bartender must've noticed her grimacing.

"Not really. It's too..." Blake shrugged. Even after going out with Yang many times, she had no idea how to describe alcohol. "Do you have anything… smoother? Is that the right word?"

"Got a favorite flavor?"

"Uhh… Chocolate? Cream… Both?" Blake grabbed one of the glasses of water and swirled the taste of the wine away.

"Coming right up." He pulled out a few bottles, spinning them as he poured something.

Blake drank the entire glass, glaring at the wind.

The bartender chuckled. "It's an acquired taste, unlike this beauty."

Blake sipped the milky brown drink. It was chocolate flavored with a hint of almond. "Much better."

"You're here with the redheaded goat Faunus, right?" He nodded toward Yang, who'd managed to get herself into a drinking contest with a man literally twice her current size.

"Yeah."

"Watch out for her. She's on her tenth that I've seen… eleventh now."

Blake didn't need to worry about that small of an amount. "Thanks you letting me know. I'll-"

The sound of shattering glass cut her off.

The room went silent. Blake slowly turned to the source of the crash.

A man had fallen, bringing a table down with him. He slowly lifted it off of himself, chest covered in tomato sauce.

After a few moments, someone started laughing. Then the rest joined in. Blake couldn't help laughing herself, though a smile crept in when Carmen broke away from the dance to help him.

 _Blake focused on her ears._

"Don't you worry. I have an extras in the back." Carmen pulled the man up, whispering to him.

Blake started following behind her as she lead him away. _She pulsed a thought to Yang. 'Carmen's going into the back. Coming to grab you.'_

' _Okay.'_ Yang was in the middle of chugging a bottle of wine when Blake arrived.

She tapped her partner on the shoulder. "Come on. You've had enough."

Yang held up a finger, finishing off the bottle as quickly as she could.

"Come now. Let the girl have her fun. It is..." The man took an exaggerated drink, smiling in a way that sent shivers down Blake's spine. "A good day to drink."

"We're going." Blake looped her arm through Yang's and pulled her away.

"Aww, okay." Yang tossed the bottle onto a table and pointed at the man. "I'll be back to beat you later."

"I'll be waiting."

A moment later, Blake growled. "Yang, what was that?"

"Dude saw how much I could drink and challenged me to a drinking contest."

"And you said yes."

"Yep."

Blake took a deep breath and sighed. "Let's just get this over with."

"Don't worry, your plan is great."

Blake smiled _and listened._ She could make out exactly where Carmen was from the awkward laughter. The man had his new shirt and Carmen was urging him to hurry back to the party.

"Hey." Yang waved as they stepped into the room. "Carmen, can we… talk to you for a bit?"

"Of course." Carmen smiled, waving the man off. "Do you want to sit?"

"I think that would be for the best." Blake nodded, closing the door behind her. _She focused on the sounds outside. They were alone._

Carmen pulled a pair of folding chair out for them. "What do you want to talk about?"

"We're…" Blake started, not able to meet her eyes. "Not exactly who we said we were."

Carmen nodded, smiling softly.

"You aren't surprised?" Yang sat down, staring at the wall.

"Girls, the two of you appeared seemingly from nowhere, having traveled through the wilderness, with more money than many people see in a month." Carmen kept smiling. "I had you pegged for either wealthy runaways or criminals from the first night."

She was… technically not wrong. Blake had stolen a lot over the past few months. "Why weren't you worried?"

Carmen took a deep breath. "Because many of the Silver Lady's followers come from such a life. I would say that more than half of us have run afoul of the law at some point."

 _It wasn't a lie, but it wasn't the truth either._

"Gotcha." Yang still couldn't meet Carmen's eyes.

Blake grabbed her partner's hand and squeezed.

"I imagine that something serious must have happened if you're coming to me _now_ ," Carmen said softly, with a bit of stress on the final word.

"Yeah, something big has happened and we need your help." Yang squeezed back, now looking at her lap. "We came to this city because we were trying to track someone down."

"And you think I might know them?"

Yang paused for a moment. "Yeah… His name's Tyrian and he's a member of the… He's called 'the Speaker of Darkness'."

"I've heard of a Tyrian, but not that title."

"They're… a creepy Grimm cult that wanted me to help them destroy Vale." Yang clenched her free fist. "So… I took out the group I found and, well, kinda of want to find the rest of them to put a stop to whatever they're doing."

"That sounds awfully dangerous."

Yang waved the warning off. "We'll be fine. Just let me know where to find him."

"I cannot in good conscience do that."

"Why not?"

"While I had thought the two of you may be Academy dropouts, someone threatening Vale isn't a matter that you should be playing around with, " Carmen raised her voice slightly.

"What?"

"That's for the Guilds or Vale's Hunters as a whole to handle. Not two girls who are far too young for such a risk. Any information that you can give them would be-"

"We'll. Be. Fine." Yang finally looked at Carmen. "I've already killed like twenty of them."

"Yang." Blake cut Carmen off. "I think there's something you should explain."

Carmen frowned at them.

"Okay… So… yeah, there is." Yang rubbed the side of her neck. "There's really no problem with any of that because I'm… actually… Yang Xiao-Long."

The frown turned into the glare.

"You know, like, the new goddess tha-"

"Don't make jokes like that," Carmen snapped.

"I-" Yang froze. "Why would I joke about that? Why would anyone joke about that?"

"There are many people who seek power above all else and will take any amount they can, even if it is just duping a young girl," Carmen said so bitterly it made Blake finch.

"But… Who in their right mind would pretend to be Anathema? That's… stupid and..." Yang rubbed her temples. After taking a deep breath, she got back to normal. "Anyway, I'm not lying."

"Then I hope you'll forgive me if I ask for proof." Carmen folded her hands on her lap, fingers so tense her knuckles whitened. _Blake listened for the real meaning. 'Please, be real. I've been disappointed so many times.'_

"Umm…" Yang held a hand out and ignited it with green flames. "Poof."

Carmen squinted, not able to look directly at the flames. "That could easily be your Semblance."

"Uhh… help?" Yang awkwardly grinned at Blake.

Blake tapped her partner's forehead.

"But then I'll have to sit back here for an hour." Yang whined. Blake gave her a cold stare. "Okay fine."

After another breath, swords of green fire erupted on Yang's brow. "Believe me no-"

Carmen dropped to one knee. "I'm sorry that I doubted you, my Lady, but… You must understand, we've been lied to so many times."

"Uhh…" Yang looked like a deer caught in headlights. "You… you don't… It's no problem, I just… Can you tell me who he is now?"

"Of course." Carmen bowed her head again. "I'll introduce you to Violet immediately. She's the one who knows of him."

"Thanks?" Yang half smiled. "Just, stop bowing please."

Blake squeezed her hand. All of a suddenly very aware of how warm Yang was. Was it the fire?

Carmen began standing up, then went back down. "My Lady, if I may ask a boon of you."

"Sure, if you stop calling me that. It's just Yang."

"I'm sorry, that's too irreverent."

"Uhh-" Yang made a couple of noises, _sending her thoughts to Blake. 'Help me make her stop!'_

' _Umm… Give her a title that makes her closer to you?'_ Blake shrugged. She couldn't think of anything good to say. It was really a question for someone like Weiss. ' _Like High Priestess or something? Then it'd be less improper?'_

' _I… I really don't think that's a good idea and I don't know why.'_ Yang groaned. "Okay, what's the favor?"

"Iris and Grey"- the bride and groom -"are both very devout followers of Lady Luna and were some of the first to ask about including yourself in our regular ceremonies."

"Okay."

"It would mean the world to them if you were to bless their marriage."

"Uhh… Isn't the ceremony over? You married them an hour ago."

"Does that matter?" Carmen raised her head.

"I don't know?" Yang looked at Blake again. "Does it?"

Blake shrugged. "It's your cult."

"I-" Yang stammered. "Can we keep it quiet? Like, just the five of us?"

"You don't wish for everyone to know?" Carmen asked very slowly. "It would bring a lot of happiness to their lives."

"I don't… not yet." Yang shouted at Blake mentally. ' _Help!'_

After a moment, Blake coughed to draw attention. "If everyone knew, it's more likely that someone would let the secret slip to a Hunter."

Carmen nodded. "Of course. I understand, Lady Blake."

Blake shuddered. Being called that did feel really weird.

"I'll… Figure out how to get them here without revealing too much." Carmen stood up, bowing her head to each of them in turn.

As soon as she left, Yang grabbed the straps on Blake's dress and pulled her close. "What am I going to do now?"

"Be god like?" Blake grinned, trying to hold herself together. The room had gotten really hot, probably thanks to Yang's fire.

"But I don't know…" Yang squinted at her. "Are you alright?"

Blake fanned herself, trying to keep her eyes from drifting down. Yang's dress was really nice looking. "Just, really warm."

"Sorry, I figured fire would make it more obvious."

Blake shrugged, sitting down. "Can you bless people? Ruby could, right?"

"I… don't kn-" Yang looked up. "Shut up you stupid demon!"

"Yang?"

"It wanted me to brand them like Adam."

Blake shivered again. "Please don't."

"Of course not! I-" Yang cut herself off, looking back towards the main room. "Someone's Aura just did something."

Blake took a deep breath and _focused on her hearing. "That's so gross!" A little kid said as people were gasped._

 _An older man awkwardly chuckled, "I think you've had a little too much."_

 _"No, I'm," the man slurred. "I'ma grood."_

"I think someone got too drunk and threw up."

"Urgh…"

 _She could also hear three sets of footsteps coming towards them._ Blake wiped the sweat off of her forehead. "You ready? It's showtime."


	12. Chapter 2-4

Yang's heart pounded in her chest as the doorknob rattled. This was it, there was no going back now. She was going to really have a group of people worshiping her and… telling them to do things. It was only these three, but she couldn't pretend that it was just going to end here.

She needed to do it right, keep the wedding happy, make the impression that she wanted to, and… and how did she even want them to treat her? She was their goddess… sort of. But, what did that even mean? Did she need to do something else for them? A bunch of people worshiped the Sun back in Patch and he didn't seem to do anything for them.

The door slowly opened, revealing Carmen, Iris, and Grey.

The happy couple was a little plain, dark green haired and brown eyed, but they were absolutely adorable in their matching cerulean gown and robes. The hems were lined with silver with yellow-green accents that she really didn't want to spend too much time thinking about. The color was something that Yang didn't really get, but she didn't really need to. It was their wedding, they should wear whatever they wanted to.

They also had a weird energy surrounding them. It had built up through the ceremony, but didn't seem to be doing anything. Now that Yang was closer, she could feel it. It was… calming and heavy. There was a gravity to it that felt like it mattered, even if Yang didn't know why.

Iris stepped forward first, bowing her head. "M-My Lady?"

That was it, the moment of truth. She needed to be serious, dignified, god-like.

"Yo." Yang waved. "Yang Xiao-Long. What's up?"

All three of them stared at her, gaping.

Nailed it.

"I- My…" Carmen took a deep breath. "Lady-"

Yang frowned, but didn't interrupt.

"-Yang, please. Decorum is important, especially for a ceremony like this."

"Hmm." Yang glanced at Blake, who was still kinda flushed. When her partner nodded, Yang sighed. "Okay, yeah. You have a point. This is an important ceremony and making it feel right matters."

Carmen bowed her head. "Thank you, Lady Yang."

Yang couldn't help shivering. Carmen had to be at least ten years older than her. She shouldn't be so… respectful. Not, that wasn't the right word... Deferential? That was better. No one should be counting on a teenage Anathema to make important decisions.

"Alright." Yang smiled and stepped towards them, clapping her hands on their shoulders. "So… let's get this marriage blessing thing going."

Carman briefly flickered to a frown, but she didn't say anything.

'You're doing that on purpose.' Blake's voice echoed in the back of her head while all three hesitated again. Lips trembling while they tried to find the right thing to say.

'I might be.' If Yang was going to have a cult, it damned well wasn't going to be so stupidly formal all of the time. If it took her being forcibly casual for that to sink in… She could deal with the awkwardness.

'It's a... really important moment. You should take what you're doing seriously.' Blake's thoughts were a little delayed.

'I am! That's why…' Yang paused. How would Weiss or Blake explain her feelings? 'That's why making the tone what I want it to be is important.'

After a long moment without anyone saying anything, Blake prodded her again. 'You might want to suggest something.'

Carmen, Iris, and Grey were moving very slightly, mouths quivering as if each was waiting for their chance to speak.

"So, what're you thinking?" Yang nodded to Grey.

"I-" He met her eyes briefly, then bowed his head. "I had thought that we might make out oaths again… with your blessing this time."

Which was the exact idea that Carmen suggested. Yang barely resisted the urge to run her fingers through her hair. It felt wrong to do that, for some reason. "I'm pretty sure vows don't work like that; you already made them."

He paused, furrowing his brow in thought. "A lot of couples will renew their vows at some point, usually for really important things, why not now?"

"This is an important event," Blake said. 'I think it'd be great.'

'Traitor.' Yang couldn't exactly disagree with her though… and yet.

She promised Weiss she wouldn't risk anything, but… if she wanted to make something nice happen she might have to. Yang focused on the memories that weren't her own, searching for weddings. Tialeth had performed several, was present for many more. "I think… there's something... better that we can do."

Carmen and Blake both raised an eyebrow.

"It's something you need an Anathema for." She lied, sending a message to Blake. 'Just trust me, okay?'

She held out a hand and focused her Aura. A brilliant green flame flared in her palm, its own power surrounding the calm energy. "This is probably the best way I can-"

When both Iris and Grey flinched, Yang focused on them with her other senses. Neither had an Awakened Aura. There were also even more people using their Auras on the dance floor, but they were also getting drunk enough that they'd be stumbling or bumping into each other a little too hard.

"Okay, so… Sorry about that. I didn't realize you two didn't have active Auras… Hmm…" She needed to do something… magical and god-like as part of the ritual. There was something which always happened, it started with a speech like what Carmen gave during the ceremony, then a lot of dancing, and then a priest did some magic. She didn't have all of the ritual items, but raw power should work. "Give me a moment. I think I know what we need to do."

Yang walked over to a nearly broken foldup chair in the corner, rapping it with her knuckles and igniting it. There was something she'd figured out when building the towers that might be useful. As the chair burned up, the ashes rose, swirling around her. They bunched together, becoming pinpricks of perfect blackness that smoldered with green-yellow flames.

"Someone hit the lights." Yang collected the bits of darkness around her hand.

Carmen flipped the lightswitch, leaving Yang illuminated by the glowing flames. She let them move outward, lighting up the room like tiny fireflies. "There we go. That's a lot nicer."

Everyone's eyes followed the lights while they circled… as far around the couple as Yang could manage. They kept coming back to her, no matter how much she tried to push them around someone else.

"They're… beautiful." Iris gasped, raising a finger to touch one.

"Oww!" She yelped, recoiling when she got too close.

"Yeah, they're still really hot." Yang chuckled, making her hair spark with flames briefly. "So, are the two of you ready?"

Both nodded, hands clasped. Blake and Carmen backed away, sitting on the remaining chairs.

"Alrighty then." Yang took a deep breath. She could do this. She'd been to… a bunch of weddings and sort of knew what to say. "Iris and Grey, when you two were first joined in marriage… er… an hour or so ago, you probably weren't expecting any of this."

Yang held her arms wide, letting the flames spin faster. They both took slow breaths, eyes sparkling.

"You promised to love and honor each other and I'm pretty sure I saw a lot of love on that dance floor." Yang paused, pushing down her nervous energy. This was the part that was important to not screw up. "And so, as one who wields the power of the heavens I will… register your union into the divine… manuscript? And also bless it so it will be… fruitful."

No!

Yang could feel Blake's disapproving glare. She focused, pushing it and the demon from her mind.

The energy surrounding them wasn't moving right, so she pulled her own in closer and forced it to condense. It strained against her, but its resistance shattered before a fraction of her might.

'Better.'

The demon's approval made her shudder. "Are you ready for your vows?"

Both nodded.

Yang snapped, lighting her index finger on fire. She drew a symbol that she'd seen in the memories of weddings, leaving a trail of fire behind. It was… a circle with a cross coming out of the bottom, the symbol of one of the gods. Yang didn't really know which one, but considering that no one seemed weirded out, she probably got it right.

"Grey, will you declare Iris as your wife. To be bound together in this harmonious union?"

"I do."

"Iris, will you declare Grey as your husband. To be bound together in this harmonious union?"

"I do."

With a wave of her hand, she sent the symbol forward. When it was directly between them, she clenched her fist and focused. The serene energy flowing between the couple had strengthened, but it was not yet bound to them.

Yang pulled the wisps of fire closer, infusing the calming energy with her own heat and forcing it to compress. Again and again she squeezed it, shaping it, molding it, forging it into the blessing that she half-remembered thanks to an ancient Anathema whether it wanted to take that shape or not.

With a flare of hellish light, her will was made manifest and a bond of serenity was tied between the couple.

Yang took a deep breath, wiping the sweat from her forehead. "And bam, your marriage is blessed with… blessed."

Yang averted her eyes from the kiss, glancing at Blake. Her partner had slumped over, her own eyes flickering open and closed.

'Blake!' Yang mentally shouted.

Blake lurched, suddenly sitting straight. 'What?!'

'Are you okay?'

It took until the kiss finished for her to reply. 'I… I don't think so.'

Yang stepped over to her, helping Blake up. Her hands were cold, clammy. 'What's wrong?'

'My head's… fuzzy.'

'That's not-' Her thought was cut off by a scream of horror coming from outside.

'What-'

'Someone just fell and...' Blake cut off Yang's next thought. 'Someone else came in.'

Yang focused on the dance floor, there was a very powerful Aura moving around it. Strong enough that it could've been one of their teachers at Beacon.

Carmen stood up, eyes going to the door.

"Wait." Yang held her arm out, still looking at Blake. "Is anyone saying anything?"

Blake closed her eyes again, brow furrowing in concentration. "Someone's looking for us." 'And there's blood.'

Yang turned to Carmen, Grey, and Iris. "Stay here."

"Lady Yang." Carmen spoke softly, stepping back. "Didn't you want to remain hidden?"

"I'm not sure I have that option now."

* * *

Blake grabbed her weapon with trembling fingers. It was like her belly was both so empty it didn't exist and so full that if she sat down she'd throw up.

"Are you up for this? Yang placed a hand on her shoulder, steadying her.

"Not going to let you do this alone." Blake mumbled, focusing her Aura into her body. Her muscles surged with unnatural power.

"Thanks…" Yang let go. Blake barely managed to avoid stumbling. Through focusing her Aura, she regained her balance. "Gonna be able to fight?"

"They won't even see me." Blake brushed her hand against Yang's. They hadn't fought a Hunter in a long time and this one sounded obsessed with them. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah…" Yang sighed. "I liked this city."

"I did too." They might be able to re-disguise themselves, but the city would be swarming with people looking for them. "But, there's always somewhere else we can go."

"Mmh, maybe we can go back to Vale." Yang clenched her fist, as they approached the door to the main area.

"Maybe." Blake took another breath, pushing the bile in the back of her throat down.

Yang opened the doors and stepped through. Blake stepped into her shadow.

The dance floor looked more like a slaughter house. The happy dancers were either on the floor or huddles in corners. Masked men and women stood above them with rifles. Their black and red robes were marked with an eye, just like the cult that she and Yang took out.

Many of the fallen people had blood dripping from their mouths. They were still alive, but their breathing was shallow, sporadic.

In the center of it all was a man Blake had seen walking around the city before, a scorpion Faunus in a brown long coat and hair that matched it. He was smiling just like Adam had before a fight and had enough scars on his bare chest that Blake knew he wouldn't go down easily.

"Ahh, welcome, welcome. I was so hoping you would join us. "The man giggled and clapped, manic yellow eyes looking right at Yang.

"What is this? What're you-" Yang stopped, looking at the ceiling and glaring. Blake couldn't make out anything up there.

The man shook his head and paced. "Now, now, I wouldn't have taken you for someone so slow. What is happening should be obvious."

"So enlighten me," Yang growled.

The man giggled and smiled again, tapping the tips of his fingers together. "Tell me, did you enjoy the festivities?"

Yang hesitated. "What?"

He picked up a bottle of the awful wine. "Did you, perhaps, hehehe, partake in the wine?"

Everything about his laugh made Blake shiver.

Yang narrowed her eyes, kicking a fallen bottle. "Yeah, why?"

The man licked his lips. "Well… what did you think of it?"

"It was…" Yang paused. "Really good?"

"What?" The man's smile broke. He looked from the bottle, then back to Yang. "You drank from one of these bottles?"

He poured a glass of the reddish-purple wine hat Blake hated. "This is what you drank?"

"Yes?" Yang cringed, grabbing a glass from a table. After smelling it, she nodded. "Yeah, that's it."

"Huh…" The man pursed his lips, looking at the the glass. "Well… Are you feeling… different? A little… under the weather maybe?"

"What's in that?" Yang asked very slowly, putting her glass down and edging away.

"Hmm… Well then…" He frowned, watching Yang. "That's… very odd."

"What are you talking about?" Yang shouted, hair flaring with light. "You're killing people and… distracting me."

"Ahh, yes." The man laughed, smiling again. "You see, it's much easier to kill an Anathema after they've been weakened and surrounded by… those who they wouldn't want to accidentally harm."

Yang glared at him.

"You wouldn't want anything to happen to your precious cult, now would you?"

"What did you do to them?"

"I did nothing." The man gestured toward one of the cultists. They dragged the bartender out.

"You see, I've been trying to find you for quite some time, without much luck. Imagine my surprise when you appeared from nowhere, lighting a roof on fire, and fleeing a great brawl. The blow you blocked would have killed a normal girl."

"How did you know that was me?"

"Hmm…" He looked up, thinking in a ridiculously exaggerated manner. "I think I'll leave that as a secret for now. As for finding you, well, once I knew who took look for it was simple."

The man leaned on the bartender's shoulder. The bartender tried to shy away, keeping as much of a distance as he could. "I've know our dear friend here for quite some time and he isn't quite the upstanding fellow that everyone thought he was. Why, a simple reminder of an old debt meant he would do anything for me, even add some very special mixtures to his drinks."

Blake listened for the mean meaning behind his words. He'd forced the bartender to poison them.

She should've known something was wrong when Yang liked it almost as much as those stupid berries.

'Yang, he-'

'I know… I'm an idiot for not noticing.'

'You couldn't have known that someone would do that.'

"So, what is this?" Yang stomped forward and deployed her gauntlets. "You'll kill all of these people just to get to me?"

"All of these people?" He looked almost offended. "My dear girl, I would kill far, far more in order to ensure that you were one of them. You have done us a grave injury that must be repaid… Now..."

He held a hand up to his ear, as if he was waiting to hear something. Blake focused on her senses, but couldn't make anything besides normal nighttime city sounds.

"What are-" Yang was interrupted by him holding up a finger.

"Hmm… Any moment now…" He frowned at the door. "Where are they?"

"Let me guess, you were waiting for backup?"

"In a sense…" The man sighed so hard he almost fell over. "They were supposed to be here by now, but I guess I'll need to send the command myself."

His eyes flashed with yellow light. Yang's eyes went wide right before she snapped a punch straight up, firing a shell toward the ceiling. It burned with green flames, leaving a trail of ignited bugs behind. It punched straight through the metal plating above them and caused something to scream like nails running down a chalk board.

Blake shuddered as Yang fired a second green bolt, only stopping after it exploded, killing whatever was up there.

"So, you can feel them. It's such a shame that you rejected our kind offers."

"What the hell are you?" Yang exploded with flames, destroying the bugs flying around her. "You felt like a goddamned Grimm."

"Hehehehehe…" He started cackling softly, before breaking into an incredibly loud laugh. "Ahh, you can feel my blessings as well. Oh what glorious carnage we could have wrought."

Yang fired a bolt at him, he smoothly slipped under it. "Who are you?"

"Why, my dear girl, my name is Tyrian." His bowed, eyes flashing again. "And I'm afraid you must-"

Blake didn't give him the chance to finish, exploding from the shadows in the blink of an eye. Her blade was shrouded in deadly energy as it cut into his thigh. But the strike was sloppy thanks to her still spasming muscles; it didn't cleanly slice through his Aura.

He was launched away, landing on his feet with a gash in his coat where her blade hit.

Tyrian was smiling and giggling. "Oh, both of you are after all. How delightful."

'We need to capture him.' Blake pulsed the thought to Yang as she got ready for another strike. Her fingers were still trembling and her legs burning from the short burst of movement.

Her partner stepped up next to her, sparing a glance at the fallen members of her cult. 'I really want to kill him right now.'

'You can do that after-'

Blake glanced up as the city's Grimm sirens blared.


	13. Chapter 2-5

Yang held out her hand _and pulled._ Tyrian threw himself to the ground to avoid it, kicking backward and somersaulting over a table.

Blake dove at him again before he landed. _Her swords were covered in a dark fire that made Yang shiver when she looked at it._ Tyrian continued to run away.

"I didn't take you for a coward." Yang shouted, _letting her need for a good fight consume the room._ Tyrian almost surged forward, but kept himself back with clenched teeth. Two of his men were less controlled, but Blake was able to put them down without any problems.

He chuckled in a way that was asking for a punch to the face. "As excited as I am, I am also no fool. Two at once? That would be far too much for poor old Tyrian."

"I don't see anyone else here who can help you." Yang double checked each of his cultists. They had decent Auras, not strong enough to go to a Hunter Academy, but easily cop level.

"Ahh, but you see, you don't need to see them." He whistled and _a Grimm-like power flowed from him._ In an instant hundreds of others also did... something.

Yang was surrounded by invisible Auras, each barely noticeable. They drove at her as a group, slamming into her despite not existing. Each was almost impossibly weak, about as threatening as a training bullet. But, there were hundreds on them.

The hits came in waves, slamming against Yang's Aura as a mass if spikes and forcing her to use more power to resist them.

 _A flaming punch caught one of the largest._ A wasp Grimm the size of her fist spiraled away, its body quickly burning up. The smaller bugs around it burned faster, but they weren't threats.

Each punch tore a burning line of bugs away, along with one of the larger wasps, but it was like trying to drain a river with a single pail. No matter how many she destroyed, there were always more following them.

Every time they attacked, she took them out as they raked her Aura with their stingers and fangs. Nothing ever penetrated it, but she could feel it slowly dwindling down. Whenever she could, Yang sent a Dust shot burning at the ones chasing Blake, but it was never enough. Blake had to vanish over and over, disappearing into shadows as they chased after her.

"That's enough!" Yang shouted, raising a leg and channeling so much fire into it that the tiles around her crumpled from the heat.

"No, no, no." Tyrian wagged a finger at her, a knowing grin spreading across his face. "You wouldn't want to hurt all of these innocent people, would you?"

Yang froze. There were five members of her cult nearby, none of whom had Awakened Auras. If she let loose, there was no way to stop them from getting hit by the wave of fire.

They'd gone over this at Signal. A Grimm breach was the most dangerous type of fight to be in. Not because of the number of Grimm, it was normally lower than an extermination mission, but because all of the civilians meant that you had to be careful.

Out in the wilderness, no one cared if you destroyed everything around you. You were free to go all out. But, in a city, every missed attack could be an accidental death and any use of blasts was forbidden.

That bastard had forced them to fight in any Hunter's worst nightmare.

Yang tensed herself and took the beginning next wave without resistance. Ten little knives ran over her skin, but they didn't break it. They tore her dress, but were about as threatening as a puppy trying to scratch her.

She was… Fine wasn't the right word, but it was close. Blake wouldn't be.

Her partner was moving fast, leaping away from each wave as it came in by vanishing from sight. But, another one always followed the first and Yang knew Blake couldn't keep that up for long. Her shadow trick burned too much Aura.

Yang tried to get closer to her, pushing through the next wave without fighting back, but as she moved, Tyrian launched himself at Blake.

 _Yang yanked him from the air._ He caught her punch with both hands, grimacing as the flames burned through his Aura, and kicked off of her chest to get away, leaping right back at Blake.

Her partner slipped under his flying charge and sent him tumbling with her own strike. Blake sheathed her blade, ready to finish it, but she had to jump out of the way of more bugs, unable to follow up. Blake vanished from sight again, reappearing near the front door.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you." Tyrian wagged a finger at her, throwing himself to the side to dodge another _pull_ of Yang's. "if you're not here to entertain my dear disciples, their trigger fingers might get tired."

"Monster." Yang growled as his cult very purposefully pointed their guns at hers.

He stood up, face screaming offense. "Monster? I am far worse than a mere monster. For instance, would a monster do this?"

He spread his arms wide and _pulsed with Grimm energy_. The room went quiet, waiting for whatever it was to happen.

The only sounds were those of heavy rifles firing from the city.

Yang raised an eyebrow. "Do what? Nothing happened."

"Or did it?" he cackled.

"No! Nothing happened and I…" Yang took a deep breath. He was trying to frustrate her again so his backup would show. "Just, shut up and fight."

"If you insist." He shrugged and jumped toward Blake. Then the bugs swarmed Yang… again.

Again and again she tried to yank that bastard back towards her, but he was always moving and she usually missed the pull. He never landed a hit in Blake, but constantly dodging the bugs was taking its toll on her.

' _Are you doing alright?'_ Yang thought at Blake right as she pulled Tyrian into her fiery hand. It took _as much power as she could control._ , but she finally had him.

' _I'm'- Blake interrupted the thought by vanishing into darkness again -'okay for now.'_

Yang squeezed Tyrian's fists with hell-fire until she felt his bones shifting within her fingers. The man screamed as she leaned back, ready to put her horns to use, and-

' _Watch his tail!'_ Blake mentally shouted as the bugs came back in.

'His wha-' Yang gasped as a white-hot pain pierced her stomach. A scorpion tail had snuck between his legs, barb sunk into her.

"There we go." Tyrian growled, twisting it as an explosion rattled the windows. The sound of metal tearing apart assaulted Yang's ears. "And there went the big guns. Knew it would happen eventually."

Fire lanced up Yang's spine, erupting from her skin and forcing him away. She pressed down on the stinging skin. It was a very shallow injury and damn did it burn, _but she could push through it._

 _She focused her energy into her fist. The air around it warped and cracked as flames spread up her arm. She kicked off of the floor, cracking the cement underfoot._

 _Like a screaming missile, she fired herself at him. The blood pounded in her ears as her fist got close and closer to his stupid face._ She came at him so fast that she couldn't control her own body, like a human bullet.

He twisted in the air with an inhuman flexibility. His tail looped around the table, turning a sure kill into a punch that glanced off of his shoulder.

Tyrian's coat burned as he was launched across the room. He landed in a pile of limbs, but came up without it. The only proof of the hit was a dark burn on his arm that pulsed with heat.

He glared, gritting hit teeth _as his Aura lashed out to the Grimm again._

Yang smiled and swatted another wasp. At least she'd succeeded in punching that stupid grin off of his face.

Tyrian tried to raise his arm, but stopped with a flinch after moving it a couple of inches.

Yang charged again, but he slipped away. Then she got stung twice by the Grimm wasps. The muscles in that arm felt even tighter than before.

' _We can't keep fighting like this,'_ She thought to Blake, burning even more bugs. ' _He's just going to wear us down and…'_

Yang might be able to kill him with an all-out punch that connected. But… he still had all of those bugs attacking and his followers. Was he spiteful enough to make them hurt her people if she was wrong.

Given what he'd done so far...

' _Blake…'_ Yang circled Tyrian, keeping herself between him and her partner. ' _I… We need to end this fast.'_

 _She vanished again, only responding after the bugs moved away. 'Yeah.'_

' _I don't think I can take him out with so many people he could tell the Grimm to kill.'_

' _I… I can't either.'_

' _Blake… That's not true.'_

' _Yes it is. My… I'm shaky and wouldn't be able to hit the right spot.'_

' _I'm… not talking about knocking him out.'_ Yang fired a flaming shell at the bugs closing in on Blake.

' _Yang.. I can't.'_

' _He's literally a Grimm worshiper who's trying to kill us.'_

' _I know what you meant! I'm not talking about knocking him out!'_ Blake's volume made Yang wince. ' _Sorry… I know he needs to die. I just can't do it.'_

' _What do you…'_ Yang's thought faded away when she looked at Blake.

Her partner was in bad shape. She'd always been pale, but Yang could practically see her veins now. Her skin was slick with sweat and every movement was so shaky it was a miracle her heels hadn't tripped her.

' _I can't... These… things chasing me… I can't focus enough to do it right.' Blake vanished into shadows to dodge another Grimm wave._

 _Yang pulled Tyrian from the air again to keep him away and burned his bad arm again with a follow up elbow._

 _Another sound shook the floor, this one a little further away. It was heavy, rumbling, and lasted far longer than it should. A building had collapsed nearby, a big one._

 _A moment later, a loud speaker sounded. "Attention all residents currently in the Greenbarrow district. Please evacuate to the city center along Royal Avenue. The militia and Hunters will protect you as you move."_

 _They were in that district._

" _The walls…" Yang said under her breath._

" _You can't keep the Grimm away for long without any cannons." Tyrian sang, dodging another of Yang's shells. Smart move; if he'd tried to bat it away, he would've been burned even more._

 _She needed to end this now._

 _They couldn't fight him, the invisible Grimm, and regular Grimm all at once._

 _Yang held a hand out to him, but he dropped to avoid being pulled. That was the problem. If he'd just fight her, it'd already be over. But he knew that and now his reinforcements were coming. almost on them._

 _Heat pulsed within her chest, daring to be unleashed. It was fuming under her skin, licking at her fingertips. Any more and it would be unleashed whether she liked it or not._

 _Another all out punch would do it. If it landed it'd should get him… if it landed. She had enough Aura for another… but going beyond that…_

 _Yang wasn't Blake. She couldn't move fast enough that the blow was impossible to dodge. No matter what she did, he always had a chance of slipping away. Blake had to be the one to do that and…_

 _Yang's eyes flicked to her partner vanishing from sight again. A moment later, the wave of stingers and claws bounced off of her own skin._

 _Blake couldn't do that while the bugs were going after her._

 _Yang looked at the innocent wedding guests… members of her cult… lying on the floor. Their eyes, the ones that were still conscious anyway, were either fixed to her or to the guns being pointed at them. Fear, anxiety, hope: each of those danced within the tiniest changes when they noticed her looking at them._

 _She tried another pull to force him away from Blake. An Ursa roared outside. It was still pretty far away._

 _She could get rid of the bugs, but it would cost them their lives._

 _If she didn't get rid of the bugs, he was going to kill them anyway._

 _'you know what must be done.'_

"Shut up," Yang said through clenched teeth.

She wasn't going to do that, just murder them. She couldn't do that and… No, it didn't matter what, killing them just to save herself was unacceptable.

But… What else did she have?

If Ruby or Weiss was with her and could hit them…

If Weiss ...

Yang's blood ran cold. Her lips trembled.

There was something she could do, but it was horrible.

It was her only option that might work, but was it more horrible than letting them die?

She took a deep breath, shifting so she was between Tyrian and Blake again. Heavy rifle fire sounded from down the street, on the move. Guns that powerful were only used by Hunters and there were enough shots that there had to be more than one. If a squad of Hunters saw her now, she and Blake would need to run.

Yang looked at her cult again. What was worse than dying? No longer being yourself. Having your mind, your soul, invaded and changed because some Anathema had the power to do it.

She'd been able to take control of people for a while, to make them want what she wanted. It'd always been getting into fights or eating before, something that… okay, not everyone liked those things, but most people wouldn't really object to a little bit of them. There was no reason why it wouldn't work on the Grimm too. She could do it, but fighting or eating would just make the Grimm problem worse.

' _I-'_ Yang thought at Blake. ' _Blake, I…'_

' _What's wrong?'_

Yang tensed, frowning. Of course Blake would be able to tell how she was feeling. ' _I can get you your shot at him.'_

' _Yang! What's wrong? You sound like you're crying.'_

' _I… I have to do something bad to do it, something really bad.'_ Yang took a shaky breath. ' _I… if I say it out loud, I'm going to lose my nerve.'_

' _Can I do anything to help?'_

' _Make sure he goes down. Him and all of his damn minions.'_ Yang gathered her fire into her chest. ' _And… help me keep everyone safe from themselves afterward.'_

There was something else she could force, something that wouldn't automatically be bad if the Grimm felt it. At least, she really, really hoped it wouldn't be. And… even if it would be really bad now, as long as they were still alive, she could make it better. She could make it right by them.

She had to.

' _Ready?'_

' _Ready.'_

"I'm sorry everyone, but I can't think of any other way to make this work." Yang took a step toward Tyrian, allowing her flames to burn hot. She thought about Blake and Weiss and… a significant number of people both at Beacon and here, along with what she wanted to do to them. Then, _she pushed those feelings out, infusing them with her same fire that could hurt the invisible Grimm._

The effect was immediate. People glanced at one another, cheeks flushed, and _Blake's Aura roared with power._

The bugs stopped moving. Tyrian gasped. His men looked up, confused, no longer ready to fire.

"M-My queen, no..." He dropped to his knees, head falling. "No, no, that's not right. I shouldn't think about tho-"

His head exploded. Blake landed several feet away, wisps of her black flame flowing from the tip of her sword to his body.

 _Yang yanked three of the cultists from their positions._ Each fell to a flaming punch.

 _Blake vanished from sight, reappearing after the rest fell to the ground._

The invisible Grimm… were quiet.

"Whew." Yang wiped the sweat from her forehead. "Okay so-"

All of a sudden someone was kissing her. Their hands wrapped around her waist, pulling it deeper.

Yang grabbed them and forced her back, no matter how nice it felt.

The person was Blake.

"Why?" She panted, eyes hazy. "I- I know what you've always felt now and-"

"No." Yang shook her head, holding Blake away when she tried to get closer. "Blake, you're poisoned, drunk, and I just messed with your head. No."

"How can you stand it?! I feel… like I-"

"I deal. I focus on other things and deal." Yang took a deep breath. She'd only done this to one person before and that was because she was explicitly asked to. That was probably the most frustrating night of her life… so far. "I know you can do it too. You managed to not be afraid of Weiss before I did."

Blake panted a couple of times, still trying to lean in, then she moved back. "Right… right…"

Yang slowly let her go. She stayed back, sliding down to the ground. "Just let me… focus for a bit. The poison is..."

"Right, now we need to-" Yang cut herself off thanks to the sounds coming from behind her. Even with all of the blood and terror that should have stopped this, her command was stronger.

Yang stomped her foot, making the floor shake. All eyes turned to her. "Everyone, I'm… sorry that I had to do this, but you need to control yourselves. You aren't in the right state of mind right now and need to resist all of your… urges."

Half of the people nodded, then went right back to kissing each other. Blake also slumped over, her eyes closed and skin somehow paler.

Yang took a deep breath. She couldn't afford to freak out now. Blake passed out and her followers were ignoring her. One of these problems was solvable, she just needed to use more force and… maybe their religion because she damn well wasn't going to try overriding this with either fighting or food right now.

 _She let the flames out completely, her hair darkening and wings unfurling. The shadows in the corners of the room where two couples thought they were hidden were completely revealed._ "Listen up. I am not going to let you hurt yourselves like this because of me. _As Goddess, I order you to stop what you're doing and-_ "

"Yang? I- Is that you?"

The words were like chimes tinkling in the night spoken by a voice she never thought she'd hear again... A voice that should never have been that strained or afraid.

"'Please… Please tell me it's you and that this isn't what it looks like... Because if it is..."

Yang turned around, glancing at her unconscious partner, the headless corpse, and all of her cultists clutching each other in a mixture of lust, terror, and awe.

Her sister was standing in the doorway, Crescent Rose pointed at her.


	14. Chapter 2-6

A chill wind stirred up the ash and soot in front of her. Tent poles dotted the field with the charred remnants of the canvas rippling back and forth. No grass remained, leaving only the bodies of the fallen. The sick stench of burning meat lingered in the air, making her wrap her cloak over her mouth. Old dirt from the dust on the road was a much better smell.

Ruby stepped off on Bumblebee and _opened her ears to the sounds of the world._

This camp was wrong in so many ways, but the lingering song of Yang's made it that much worse. She'd torn the natural fabric to pieces and diverted the normal flows of energy from the sky and the land. What should have been a single river was torn to ribbons.

In places, the strings of Fate were still there, frayed instead of being completely destroyed.

The top of the hill, the place where it was most burned was one such place. There had been an enormous tent here. From the scorch marks, she could tell that the battle began here. This was where Yang killed so many people. No, not killed slaughtered…. This wasn't anything close to a fair fight.

There was barely anything left within, which made perfect sense. The only thing remaining was half of a book, the pages all burned. It crumbled to ash as she picked it up.

 _The threads that once made up the tome were barely there, but she could still grab them. As they tried to fall further, she grasped each and pulled them back together. Before her eyes, the burned pages turned white and then regrew. Just like the damaged sections of the lightning tower she'd spent so many days living in._

With a complete book in her hands, Ruby flipped through the pages. It was about some strange Mistral philosophy. Not useful.

She picked through each of the remaining books, careful to avoid touching the blackened bones surrounding her. Each that she could fix, she did, but none of them brought her closer to an answer.

A skull stared at her while she worked. It sent a shiver down her spine, as if it was glaring at her, blaming her. It was silly, a skull couldn't really affect her, vengeful ghosts weren't real… and even if they were, it would be going after the one who killed them.

"Yang…" Ruby whispered to herself.

Why would Yang do this? What could possibly justify killing so many people? From how the bodies were positioned, several died while running away from her.

She wouldn't find out the answers by standing around, but… she also couldn't just leave this place like this.

 _Ruby cast a red light around herself, opening her eyes to the unseen._ A tremendous number of Grimm bugs were flying around the natural streams of power. She definitely couldn't leave it like that now.

 _Her soul reached for the wounded river of energy and called out to it. With threads of brilliant red, she tied the streams back together._ Within moments, all of the damage had been fixed.

Her eyes caught a single scrap of paper, unearthed by her footsteps. _It grew back to its old form, becoming a very detailed map._

There was a city very close to her and it felt… right.

She hopped onto Bumblebee and set off.

Yang was close, closer than Ruby'd ever managed to get to her before. She just needed to reach out and _find the shortest path._

 _As she drove from the burned out camp, Ruby tied the sympathy of Yang's bike to the point on the map where she should be. The trees along the road turned into a blur. She drove over hills, past houses, and, finally, into a dark tunnel._

She emerged driving alongside a river, inside of a burning city. The Grimm were rampaging through the streets, moving with more coordination than they should be.

 _A single shot took out two groups, saving the civilians they were chasing._ Many more fell as she blasted down the block.

Yang was close; Ruby could hear the brutal beat of her Aura pulsing from this block.

She had to be killing a lot of…

A green-yellow glow flared from the inside of a building. Ruby focussed on it and felt the Auras inside as they were touched by Yang's heat.

"What is she… Why?" Ruby cringed when _she heard exactly what Yang was doing in there._ Yang had always been kind of a flirt, she'd never need to do something like that… Assuming the Yang inside was still her sister.

She kicked off of the bike, deploying Crescent Rose as she landed in front of the door.

 _There had better be a good reason for this…_

* * *

Yang took a breath and then another.

Ruby shoved her weapon forward, "Well?"

Yang glanced down, two of her cultists were pressed against each other off to the side. She opened her mouth once, then closed it. Technically they were listening to what she said. After a deep breath, she shrugged. "Well… I guess it kind of is."

"You…" Ruby stomped, stepping forward. "You killed a bunch of people and also started a-"

Ruby's cheeks blazed red, her eyes locked on Yang's. "A weird sex thing while there's a Grimm attack?!"

"I didn't exactly have a choice and that is not what we were doing!" Yang shouted, wings spreading wide as her Aura flared.

"You were just shouting about being a goddess and I could hear you taking control of them to do..." Ruby held her lips closed, eyes flickering to the groups of people making out. "That!"

Yang took a deep breath, ready to stop them with another order, but... their _hands_ were off of each other. They were technically listening to her and… that was probably okay? At least, she could wait to correct it. "That's not why I did that."

"Then why? Why would you take advantage of people and-"

A pair of Beowolves burst through the windows.

Yang dug her feet in, ready to charge. Ruby fired.

The round bounced off of Ember Celica and flew straight through the Beowolves' eyes, killing them instantly. It bounced back, whizzing through Yang's hair and sending a shower of sparks onto her back. Yang barely felt them.

Ruby kept Crescent Rose raised.

Yang clenched her fists. "Because they were going to die if I didn't. That bastard"- she pointed at Tyrian's headless corpse-"was holding them hostage so he could kill me and Blake."

Ruby glared at the body. "You swear that's the truth?"

"Yes."

"Who're you to question her?!" an old man suddenly stood up, shouting. He must've been one of the out of towners, since Yang'd never seen him before.

Ruby glanced at him. "What?"

He bowed his head to Yang. "The Goddess just saved all of our lives. So, who the hell are you to-"

"That's enough." Yang cut him off. She appreciated the support, but he wasn't helping. "She's my sister."

His face paled. He shakily bowed to Ruby, not quite as deeply as he had to Yang. "Please forgive me, my lady."

"I-" Ruby stared at him, all of the anger momentarily leaving her as she looked back to Yang. "What? Why would you? I- What am I supposed to do here?"

"What do you mean?"

"He just called you a goddess and now I'm some sort of lady! What have you done to them?"

"I haven't done anything."

"You just did something. I literally heard you take control of their minds so that you could make them… I don't even want to say it."

"I was saving their lives."

"By making them want to-"

"It was the only option left!" Yang cut her off, stomping the ground so hard the building shook. "I didn't force anything else on them. Hell, I only found out about all of this a week ago!"

"Then why do you have… minions? Servants? Haremites? Whatever you call them."

"Lady, umm, Red?" Another man, spoke up, flinching when Ruby turned to him. "We, none of us, knew who she was until five minutes ago. She revealed her glory to us in our time of need to save us. Before that we believed she was just a wandering Faunus girl who worshiped Luna with us. If only we had realized who you were sooner."

"We'd probably all be dead if she didn't," the girl next to him said. "I'm… Uhh, Lady Yang, please forgive our transgressions, we did not realize we were in your presence. As penance we'll give you offerings. What do you prefer for sacrifices?"

Ruby snapped back to Yang. "Sacrifices?"

Yang tried to rub the growing headache out of her temples. "I don't need sacrifices."

"Of course you don't need them! What… what do you want then?" The girl looked like a sad puppy, but she still wasn't listening.

"I don't want- No… This isn't important right now." Yang turned away from them. "I met them after coming to the city and… They're good people. Sure, they worship Anathema, but that's not what really matters. They're a family that welcomed us in when they didn't know who we were and fed us and... They're not bad people, okay.."

"You didn't mess with their heads to make that happen? Make them want to worship you?"

"No! Why would you…"

Yang stopped shouting and watched her sister, really watched her. Even though Ruby was looking at her, she kept slightly glancing away. Her fingers were lightly drumming on the side of her weapon, despite how otherwise ready she was for a fight.

Ruby'd been by herself for months, probably not talking to anyone about anything that was bothering her. As bad as it'd been, Yang at least had Blake with her the entire time.

"Please believe me." Yang softened her voice and tried to pull the fire back in, though there was only so much she could do about that. "The only reason why I did that was to keep them safe."

"From what? If you were fighting something that dangerous, where is it?"

Yang could feel one of the bigger invisible Grimm hovering over her shoulder. She could light it on fire to make it show up, but that might make all of them start attacking again. "This is going to sound kinda crazy, but I swear that I can prove it to you once we're not in this building anymore."

Ruby raised an eyebrow, but nodded.

"Okay, so there's these invisible Grimm bugs that were attacking us-"

"They attack people too?!"

"Wait.. You know about them?"

"Yeah, they were all over the place at Beacon and"- Ruby blinked, back stepping -"Woah! That's- There's so many."

"You can see them? " Yang barely avoided groaning. "You've been able to see them... How long?"

"A few months?"

"And you didn't tell anyone?"

"You mean like how you didn't tell me about any of your stuff?!" Ruby glaring at Yang's wings.

"Deadly invisible Grimm surrounding us are way more important."

"No, they aren't." Ruby clenched her teeth. "Not to me anyway."

"Ruby…" Yang stepped forward, holding a hand out.

"They're just bugs. I watched them for days and they didn't do anything. Even when they did, it was just eating a demon-"

Yang froze. She had so many questions about that... for later.

"-but not you. You three… You lied to me. You lied to me for I don't even know how long!"

"Like six months." Yang mumbled, not looking at her sister. It'd been since the summer.

"Six…" Ruby snapped, _her Aura flaring with power._ "You lied to me for six months!"

"What was I supposed to say?" Yang met Ruby's glare, _matching her sister's fire with her own._ "Oh hey sis, I sold my soul to a demon last week, but don't worry, everything's just fine."

"Of course not!" Ruby stepped forward. "That'd just be dumb, but you could've explained something."

"When you were all but skipping classes to go after that other Anathema? I don't think so." Yang matched her.

"You're the one who actually skipped classes to track her down!"

"Because she needed to be stopped and both Blake and I were using our Anathema powers to do it."

"And you couldn't have told me you were on some sort of super secret mission?"

"You would've followed us!" Yang loomed over Ruby, practically nose to nose.

"I'm your team leader."

"You're still my babysister and-"

"I am not a baby! I can handle myself." Ruby threw a terrible punch at Yang's face. It was a wide swing and so obvious a novice could dodge it.

Yang caught Ruby's fist, holding it between her fingers. After pulling it down, she growled through clenched teeth. "I didn't know that then and even if I did you would've found out about us and then we'd have to have run away from Beacon even earlier."

"You wouldn't have to have run away." Ruby yanked at her arm, but Yang didn't let her go.

"Yes, I would've. You would know-"

"I wouldn't have told anyone!"

"You would've said something because-"

"No, I wouldn't." Ruby tried to kick off of Yang's stomach, sinking her heels into the same spot where Tyrian poisoned her, but she was too weak.

"Stop being a brat and interrupting me." Yang lifted Ruby up and chucked her at one of the tables, away from any of her people. Her sister crashed through it, getting herself doused with beer and water.

"Stop ignoring what I'm saying." _Ruby vanished, smashing into the side of Yang's head with a flying kick._ "I was already arguing with Professor Goodwitch about how everything they did to find them was wrong."

Yang rolled away from the hit, grabbing Ruby's ankle as she moved. "But being Anathema is still wrong."

Ruby slipped free before Yang could slam her to the ground, using her weapon to spin and strike back. "No, it isn't!"

Yang caught the next kick with a punch, the force of her own blow sending Ruby flying, but she fired a Gravity shot to bounce back. "What're you talking about? You- You came here shouting at me because what I did was sick and wrong."

"Exactly, what you did, not what you are." Ruby swung Crescent Rose so quickly the head became a blur. She caught Yang in the side with the heel of it, launching her through a wall.

"What I am?" Yang's Aura flared as she stood up, she held a hand up and summoned _a pulse of force that yanked Ruby to her._ It knocked her sister face first into another punch. "I'm a monster, Ruby. Even if I didn't have these goddamn voices in my head shouting at me to be worse, I would still force the world to obey me just by existing. Do you know how easy it would be to just take this entire city over? Rule over it and make everyone bow to my whims?"

"Why don't you do it then, if it's so hard to resist?" Ruby rolled, turning into petals that swarmed Yang.

Another kick snapped Yang's head to the side. She followed it up with an explosion of force and flame.

It wasn't a fair fight, Ruby still didn't know anything about unarmed combat and her only weapon was too lethal to use properly, but it didn't need to be. Yang's blood pounded up as they continued; breaking furniture, shattering floorboards, and terrifying whichever people were paying attention; but she kept her fire quenched.

It wasn't a real fight; it was an argument with fists.

A punch showed the pain, the worry, that they each caused. A body slam was also a bear hug, wanting them to be close, but still wanting them to feel what it was like to be crushed. A throw's meaning was obvious. The weightlessness of being tossed away and the crash when you realized the person you through would always be there was gone.

It was like they were ten and fighting over something dumb like who deleted a save file or borrowing each other clothes returning them ripped. The only difference was this time it wasn't their room that was getting wrecked.

"What about all of the others? The camp you burned to death."

"They're the same as the ones on the ground right now."

Yang shattered a keg with a punch, pinning Ruby by her cloak.

Ruby _split into five and forced her back with a quintuple kick._

"Why did they deserve that? You haven't killed any other Hunters, have you?"

"No! These were different. They aren't Hunter's, they're-"

More Grimm burst in; they were mercilessly slaughtered.

Yang stomped, _sending a flaming shockwave to the door that tore them to ribbons._

Ruby pointed her finger at them, _making their skulls explode like they were shot by a rifle._

Yang followed up by elbowing Ruby, continuing the brawl.

They fought and fought, screaming all of their hurts to each other, until the front of the party was completely destroyed and both were panting.

"Why, Yang?" Ruby vanished into a cloud of rose petals, reappearing with her legs wrapped around Yang's back and Yang's neck in a choke hold. "Why did you do it? Lie to me? Mess with your cult's heads? Slaughter people while they ran away from you?"

Yang's breath caught in her throat. "Because I'm a bad person, Ruby. I'm a bad, selfish jerk who's too scared to face up to how much pain she causes"

"You're not a bad person."

"Yes I am. How could you say that after everything I've done?"

"You… you were trying to do your best."

"Tell that to the people I messed up. Tell that to the families that're going to be broken because of me." Yang let her arms fall down, not fighting anymore. "The White Fang, the people in that camp, even if they were bad, I still hurt everyone else who knew them."

Ruby slid down, wrapping her arms around Yang from behind. "Am I a bad person, Yang?"

"No!" Yang spun, grabbing Ruby's shoulders. "You're… you're the best one of us, the only one who's really good."

"Y-Yang… I." ruby trembled in her hands, eyes glistening. "Everything bad you've done… I've done too. And… and it's so much worse."

"That's not true! It's-"

"Y-You took control of your cult, people who already worshiped you. I took control of all of the Hunters in Vale. I forced them to stop going after Anathema, to stop the investigation and the fighting. All so that you and Blaker would be safe."

"Ruby…"

"And… you've killed what, maybe a hundred people?"

"Something like that."

"I don't know how many I've killed. I don't think I ever will." Ruby balled her hands in Yang's hair. "The Hunters who I stopped… so many of them are in the hospital now because of how much that want to fight Anathema. Their cities, the people they're supposed to protect, I left them defenseless."

"That's not your fault."

"Yes it is! If all of the families that you hurt are your fault, then all of those deaths are mine."

Yang held Ruby tight.

"Should I be killed for what I've done, Yang? I almost did that to another Anathema, someone who had a much better reason."

Yang's fire vanished. All of her heat, all of her anger, doused in an instant.

"N-No, no you shouldn't."

"Then… then neither should you." Ruby looked into Yang's eyes, the bronze sparkes within her own glowing with an unearthly light. "If what we've done is so wrong, then we need to do as much as we can to make up for it."

"There's no way to make it right. Not for the people who could've been convinced to stop and are now dead… or for the people hurt by what happened."

"We need to try. Maybe the wounds will never heal, but that doesn't mean we stop. We keep going until life is better for as many people as we can help." _Ruby's aura pulsed again._ "I-I think that if we work together, all of us, I think we might be able to end the Grimm, all of them."

"End the…" Yang looked up, the rest of the world coming back into focus. They were still in the same building, the others either had their eyes glued to her or were trying to hide in a corner. There were still Grimm rampaging outside. "I think, there's something we could do right now."

Ruby perked up, glancing at the door.

An Ursa peeked in. Moments later, it exploded twice. It wouldn't be hard for the two of them to get the entire wedding to safety, even with Yang carrying Blake.

That night, a small green sun eclipsed the moon and the blackened sky became red.


	15. Chapter 2-7

Ruby opened her eyes with a yawn. Her throat was like sandpaper, her hair smelled like burning wood, and she was in… a hospital?

She blinked a couple of times, feeling around. The harsh lights, mediciney smell, and questionably soft bed confirmed it. But, she was still wearing her Huntress outfit and nothing felt wrong with her. No tight muscles, no sore bits, besides her throat, not even a headache.

"Morning sis," Yang called out from behind the curtains around her bed.

Ruby jumped up and threw them open. Yang was sitting backwards on a chair, her wings folded behind her.

Blake was also on a bed. She was so pale, almost like a ghost, and way more sweaty than anyone should be in such a chilly room.

"Yang, what happened? I remember fighting a ton of Grimm and then..."

"You passed out after the third wave."

"Have you been up since then?"

"Yep." Yang held her eyes closed, the slight shadow under them now obvious. "I'm not gonna let anyone just mess around in here until Blake wakes up. Don't know who might be a Grimm cultist."

"Would someone really go after her here?" It was a hospital! People don't do that!

"They poisoned everyone at the wedding just to hurt us." Yang rolled her shoulders. "I wouldn't put it past them."

"What?!"

"Yeah, all of the wine was posion. So, I'm gonna taste everything they give her to make sure it's not poisoned and also scaring the crap out of the doctors and nurses to make them tell the truth." Yang's eyes burned red, her pupils dancing with green flames.

Ruby giggled nervously. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Yang shrugged.

 _The possible futures appeared before her and the correct path was clear._ "You should stop doing that and just be friendly."

Yang raised an eyebrow.

"I checked the future. Being nice to them makes everything work out better."

Yang turned to her mouth hanging open. "You can just see the future like that?"

"Uhhuh." Ruby nodded. "There's the long way, which takes a lot of research and is always really vague, and the short way, which has to be pretty specific."

"If you say so." Yang paused, pursing her lips. "So, what's my future then?"

 _Ruby took a deep breath and opened her eyes to that which would be. She dug deep into the threads, focusing on things that'd be happening pretty soon, like a year away at best._

She'd found out that just letting this sight go without looking deeper revealed things like "Yang's second child will become a Sorcerer". Which, okay, it was good to know that Yang'll live long enough to have two kids, but that really wasn't very useful when Ruby'd been trying to track her down.

 _As the answers appeared, Ruby gasped._ "Okay, so… Let's start off with the good one. You're going to see a silver Anathema."

"A what?"

Ruby whispered. "The type of thing that Weiss is."

"Oh… that's good." Yang sighed. " It'd be nice to see her again."

"Moving on to the slightly less good.. You're gonna punch your mother in the face."

"Why?"

"I dunno." Ruby'd never gotten context from looking at things this way.

"Alright." Yang nodded, still smiling slightly. "That's not all that bad. So hit me with the worst."

"You're gonna blow up this city."

"What?!" Yang stood up, knocking the chair across the room. "Why? How? I wouldn't-"

After a moment of silence, Yang slumped to the ground. "Nevermind, I know how."

"Uhh, how then?" Ruby smiled as brightly as she could. "Because I really don't know how or why you'd do that."

"So, you can see the invisible Grimm, right?"

 _Ruby lit up the room with red, revealing a bunch of the tiny flies._ "Yep. Nothing scary's around us right now."

"There's also this… energy that's floating around that I can feel." Yang moved her hand through the air very slowly. "It's really thick right now, but in other places it moves a lot."

"The rivers that exist in between cities, but never in them?"

"Of course you know what they are already."

"Eh, not really. I just listen to them and fix the harmony when they break, just sort of stitch them back together."

Yang gave her a blank stare.

"What?"

Her sister didn't move.

"What?!"

"You can fix them?"

"Yeah, I mean, I've only done it twice, but if something makes the river break, then I can stitch it back together." _Ruby listened to the sounds of the world. The energy around them was so quiet she barely noticed it, but it was there._

"Stitch a song back together? I don't even-" Yang rubbed her temples. "Oh god, this must be what Blake feels like whenever I tell her how I do stuff."

"What's it like for you?"

"Well…" Yang held her hand out again. "It's sort of like having a bigger body. I can feel the energy out there like my hand can touch the wall."

She clenched her fist and pulled it back. "Then I grab ahold of it and twist it into whatever I want or… well, pour some of my own Aura into it and heat it up until it starts moving."

Ruby nodded, that sounded like what Petra had done to restart stalled parts of the lightning tower: pour energy into the pattern of the river until it began flowing. "That's what does it?"

"I did it a couple of times and once it's got enough, it keeps going by itself and then exploding… A lot."

"Like, blow up a building?"

"Like, blow up a city." Yang glanced out the window. "Did you hear about the mountain that got swallowed by a green fireball?"

"Yeaaaah." Ruby cringed.

"That was my first try. The second hasn't exploded yet."

"Yet?"

"I kinda built a spiky super villain tower in the middle of the woods where I tried it to control the energy. I thought that some sort of place for the energy to flow to would make it better."

"Is it going to explode?"

"I don't know; you're the one who can see the future."

She couldn't check it without knowing more about the tower though. "I think we have a bunch of places that we need to go to and also, you need to not do that to the city."

"So we can change the future?"

Ruby nodded. "If we know what's going to go wrong, then we can fix it before it happens."

"Gotcha… So I can't make the background energy work." Yang slumped over more.

"I wouldn't go that far." If she was right, then the other tower might be what they need. "I found a town with a different giant tower powered like this, so we just need to figure that out."

"Okay… I might regret asking this, but is Blake going to be okay?"

"Am I what?" A rasp came from the bed.

They were both next to her bed in an instant.

Blake stared at them, eyes unfocused. "Okay Weiss, you can come out in the nurse dress now."

"What?" Ruby quirked her head to the side.

"Or is this the doctor scene? There weren't two friends here for that one." Blake frowned, mumbling. "I should remember this, just re-read it last week."

"Blake, this isn't a dream." Yang grabbed her hand.

She squinted, looking at Yang very carefully, "But… your wings're back and…"

She turned to Ruby. "You're… How're you here? Weiss said you were a couple of days out… and she isn't coming out to surprise me… What happened? How long have I been asleep?"

"We won," Yang said, smiling. "Last night, we won and then Ruby showed up."

"How?" Blake drew a bunch of lines in the air with her free hand. "You did the 'no one can find us' thing didn't you?"

"What thing?" Ruby looked at Yang.

"I made it look like we were taking every possible path to the place we were going."

"Oh." Suddenly a lot of Ruby's problems over the past few months made sense. "Well it worked until I tied Bumblebee to your current location and then drove along the shortest path."

Blake groaned, letting her head fall to the side. "I'm going back to sleep before you two give me more of a headache."

Yang chuckled, patting Blake's leg. "Sure."

After a minute of badly pretending to sleep, Blake rolled back over. "I'm assuming everything's alright since we're not in the woods."

"It's…" Ruby slowly turned to Yang. "Are we good or are things gonna be weird?"

Yang rapped her knuckles against Ruby's shoulder. "We're good."

"What happened?" Blake asked.

"We fought a bunch," Ruby said.

"Boom." Yang threw a slow motion punch to Ruby's cheek.

Ruby giggled. "Yeah."

"And the Grimm cult?" Blake asked.

'Grimm cult?' Ruby mouthed the words back to Yang.

"Very, very dead," Yang said.

"Did we get anything useful out of them? We can't just sit around waiting."

"Blake, I love you, but let's save that stuff for when you're back on your feet." Yang pulled Blake into a hug. "There's a lot that we all need to talk about."

"Yeah." Ruby sighed. "I'm still trying to figure out which things I know you don't know and how important each of them is and… yeah."

"Mmh." Yang nodded. "Same here and I bet things back at Beacon are even crazier."

"It sounds pretty normal according to Penny." Ruby pulled out her her scroll. She had ten new messages.

"Who?"

"A girl from Atlas that I met after you two… ran away. She's gonna be fighting in the tournament." Ruby opened the first message and froze.

"What is it, sis?"

"Uhh, Blake, how up to moving do you feel?" Ruby bit her lip and _quickly checked on the city's near future._ It was going to have a massive economic boom and also have better walls than before. Those weren't very useful.

Blake raised an eyebrow. "Uhh, I could probably head out tomorrow."

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" Yang asked.

"I think the worst of it is over and I can move through the pain." Blake clenched a fist in front of herself. "Why would we need to move so soon?"

Ruby turned the picture to them. "We need to get out of the city and visit Yang's villain tower pretty fast. Not like, drop everything fast since airships take a while to get going, but…"

* * *

Weiss stared at her scroll, her breakfast a long forgotten memory. She'd been checking up on the morning news and a particular image was on the front page of every site. No matter what the paper was supposed to cover, it needed to talk about this.

A green fireball floated over a city like a new sun with a bright red sky as a backdrop.

Ruby'd found them earlier than she expected and now everyone knew exactly where the three most important Anathema were. There was no doubt about it and drawing the military to somewhere else was impossible. The best she could do would be to make them delay the attack slightly.

They also hadn't contacted the extra phone she'd prepared. Blake might've not understood the instructions, but that would go against everything Weiss knew about how criminals communicated without being caught. To be fair, that mostly consisted of Atlas military manuals and her intuition about how others would do the same.

Weiss took a deep breath. This wasn't a catastrophe, even if it caused her a lot of trouble. There were other plans she could enact to make sure they got out safely.

Her next dreams to Blake and Yang would need to be more descriptive, as would the one for Ruby. If she was lucky, they'd have a day's notice about the attack. Assuming they actually messaged her, she'd be able to provide so much more. So long as she gave proper warning, they should be able to get away without a fight. If it was possible for Winter to be in charge, then it may be even easier, but she couldn't count on such fortune without General Ironwood's assistance.

 _She let another part of herself focus on planning_ and turned her attention to Pyrrha and Nora as they walked into the dining hall with an unfamiliar girl following. She looked like she was from Southern Vale or Vaccuo, dark skin and light green hair, despite wearing a Haven uniform. She'd also heaped more food onto her tray than Nora had on hers.

"Hello." Pyrrha waved, paused before she sat down. "Is this a bad time?"

"No, I'm fine." Weiss put her scroll away and turned to the trio. "And you are?"

"Emerald." She held out a hand, smiling brightly. "Nora's told me a lot about you."

"Weiss." She shook it. "Are you here for the tournament?"

Emerald frowned, grip slightly tightening. "We were, but our team leader had an accident. She's still getting used to her prosthetics."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault." Emerald shrugged as she sat down. There was a very slight hesitation in her speech, too small for a normal person to notice.

"It's still unfortunate and I'm sorry that a fellow Huntress would have to go through that." Weiss offered, keeping a very close eye on the girl.

"There're more important things than tournaments." No hesitation that time.

"Exactly." Nora popped up between them. "I was talking to Emerald and Mercury, he's her partner, and I thought that the two of you could be unfortunately non-tournament buddies."

"After speaking with them, I also thought you might have a lot to talk about." Pyrrha followed up, which changed everything.

Nora's silliness was thoughtful, even if it really wasn't how Weiss would want to spend her time, but Pyrrha's opinion on the matter was very different. They still hadn't found anyone else she could truly trust regarding their real plans or secrets. While a girl from another school would need a lot of vetting, she could also expand their influence much further.

"I'll take both of your words for it." Weiss smiled at Emerald. "How're you finding Beacon?"

"It's a little colder than I expected, but the warmth of the people makes up for it." Emerald sat down, matching the smile.

"It is a cliffside castle, but I never noticed any temperature issues."

"Aren't you from Atlas? I'd expect it to be a little too warm for you."

"It's…" Weiss drew out the word. "Comfortable. Warmer than home, but that's not bad."

Emerald nodded, starting to work through her food.

"Though, I will admit that my room's a bit too cold now. One body's worth of heat isn't enough." _Weiss wove an added meaning into her words for Emerald and Pyrrha. 'Nor the presence of just one person, despite my team's current state.'_

Emerald's eyebrows moved very slightly up.

"You could turn the heat." Nora chimed in, between pancakes. "Or you could come join us for a sleepover!"

"Maybe this weekend." Weiss grinned. "If, you can recite the natural forms of energy along with their associations from memory for me."

"I can do it!"

"What are the aspects of the sun and moon?" Weiss met Emerald's eyes, not giving any special expression. The girl's eyes widened slightly, but she didn't emote either.

"Well that's simple."

"Separated by time of day and phase, respectively."

"I… Ummm…" Nora groaned, faceplanting onto her pancakes. "Rabble, rabble, stupid energy."

Emerald rolled her eyes in a way only Weiss could see, then raised an eyebrow.

"I've been tutoring Nora in sorcery." Weiss took a sip of her lukewarm coffee. "Have you chosen your specialization yet?"

"Honestly, I'm torn between martial arts and sorcery." Emerald shrugged. "It seems really useful, but also… difficult."

"It requires more dedication than any of the other disciplines, but is as rewarding as it is challenging." Weiss conjured a small ice statue in the center of the table, then made it dance. "The potential is endless." ' _Much like many others sources of power that are reviled.'_

"Hmm." Emerald leaned closer, watching intently. "Seems so."

"I could give you a more in depth explanation this weekend."

"That'd be great! Where should I meet you?"

"The fountain at sundown on Saturday." It would be easiest for them to speak at night. "I also suspect you'll get more out of it if you come by yourself."

"I don't think any of my teammates would be interested." The very slight hesitation was there again. Considering how much Pyrrha was beaming, it really was imperceptible to normal people.

Once more, Weiss had to lament the lack of Blake's presence. Yang's as well, but Blake would be the more useful of the two for what she was doing.

"It'll just be the two of us then." Normally, she'd ask for Emerald's number now, to make sure it worked, but that hesitation and her enthusiasm was… odd. It shouldn't be this easy. Maybe it was paranoia, but she couldn't risk not trusting her instincts on such a dangerous proposal.

The military had some programs to track what was sent through scrolls, which she now had too. She merely needed to 'forget' to charge her scroll and ask for Emerald's later.

"Alright," Emerald set her fork down, most of her food was already gone. "I guess we'll talk about more then."

"Indeed." Weiss caught Pyrrha's eyes. "Though, I do need to handle some other tasks this morning." ' _Check the news, I need to work on it.'_

Pyrrha nodded.

"Nora."

Nora brightened up.

"Office hours on Friday. We need to see how you do with Dust crystals."

Nora took a deep breath, then nodded.

"Emerald," Weiss paused. "I'll see you this weekend."

The girl nodded.

Weiss picked up her tray and headed out. As soon as she was away, she checked her special phone.

There was already a message from Winter.

She couldn't help smiling as she made her way to her office.


	16. Chapter 2-i

Calmness, stillness, emptiness: she repeated these again and again as she waited through the ocean of unease. Her false limbs took on her own feelings, remaining in the shape that she had created, rather than expanding to feed. They rumbled slightly with the urge to lash out and inspire a panic, but they did not know true hunger. A different urge dwelled within the depths of her soul, a power stolen, but incomplete. The Fall Maiden's soul. It wanted, no needed, the missing pieces.

Compared to the depth of that pool, the Grimm would have to be sated by the public.

Anathema, curses, infiltrators: whispers of each surrounded her as she arrived at the center of the worry. The depths of the ocean, the whirlpool of fear, was Beacon Academy.

Cinder stepped off of the shuttle smiling. She'd worn one of her older dresses, a red and black piece with dark stockings. A red scarf completed the outfit, while also covering the most unsightly of her cybernetics. The platform had a small crowd surrounding it and the students who had been present for the attack were immediately obvious.

Their breath caught in their throats and their eyes grew wide. Some reached for their weapons and others looked for the nearest door. She took a deep breath, drinking in the fear while it lasted. As soon as they saw the age of the girl whose face she stole, they relaxed. She was too old to be the Girl in Red.

One of the boys stared at her, squinting like he was deep in thought and rubbing his chin with his tail.

"Hello, Sun." Cinder said, walking over. Her voice was no longer her own, instead it was the closest replication that the Atlas machine managed. The illusion would make it sound proper to him, but the true sound grated on her ears.

"Do I know you? You look… familiar."

"We've spared last semester. I tripped you with your own clone."

His eyes widened. "Cinder? Really? I heard you were still in the hospital."

She narrowed her eyes.

He cringed back and gave her two thumbs up. "You're... Not too different? Still looking good?"

"Having your face burned and then grafted will do that." It wasn't even a lie, she'd barely recognize herself in a mirror at first. The appearance of her body double at Haven was so much better than what remained. If only a woman were more intelligent. Someone willing to main her own throat for the sake of consistency was hard to come by. She hadn't even asked Lady Salem for a blessing in return, the fool.

Sun hissed, looked down. "Sorry. I, uhh… Are you all still gonna fight?"

Cinder flexed her hand. "I'm not sure I'll be ready in time, but that's no reason to leave my teammates alone."

"Heh, yeah…" He chuckled. "That's what a good leader would do."

"Exactly." Though she rarely was on campus, even she had heard about the leader of team SSSN's frequently delinquency. "I do hope that your team is successful in your battles."

"Thanks, I just wish I was more successful figuring out… Ahh, never mind."

"What else are you trying to accomplish?"

He leaned back and forth, exaggeratedly thinking. "Alright, so, I've been trying to find out about the Faunus Anathema that was at Beacon."

"Blake Belladonna." Cinder could not be more thankful that the spell masked her tone.

"Yeah."

"Why not ask her former teammate?"

He scratched the side of his neck. "I mean... I just found out that they were a thing from one of her friends, along with the other Anathema too, and she's still hung up about it. Just going up to someone and asking, 'Hey, so I hear your ex is a demon' is kinda… rude, don't you think?"

It would be rude. It would probably annoy her. It would allow for many other possibilities. "I think that I would want closure and someone to speak with."

"Really?"

"It would be a deep pain to be deceived like that. Talking about it would help."

"Huh…"

"Emerald, one of my teammates, knows her." Technically that was the truth. "I could have her introduce you."

"Sweet!" Sun lept into the air. "You know, you're a lot nicer than everyone says."

Cinder very slowly blinked, ending in a glare.

"I'm gonna go now."

She watched him, not moving until he was out of sight. Perhaps, he would prove useful. But, there were far more important pieces to check up on.

][

Cinder slid her key into the room they'd been assigned and threw the door open, making it slam into the wall.

"Mercury! How many times-" Emerald stood up from a desk, fist raised. "Wait, Cinder?!"

Emerald's face flickered from a bright smile to sudden realization. Cinder smirked as she slunk back.

"I'm sorry." The girl couldn't meet her eyes. "I didn't know you'd be coming so soon and Mercury is... Mercury.."

"Don't be concerned." Cinder closed the door behind her. Emerald leaned on her chair, smile returning.

Emerald looked at her arms. "Are you… better?"

"I'm in control, but that isn't important at the moment." Cinder slowly approached. "Tyrian has failed and our mission is now that much more vital."

"Can't say I'm surprised he couldn't pull it off. How much groveling did he do?"

"None. He's dead."

Emerald paused. "Oh."

"Do not forget the stakes at hand, for both Ozpin and Miss Schnee will surely do the same if you're caught." Cinder laid a hand on her shoulder.

"Right… right," Emerald whispered to herself.

"How has your task been progressing?"

"One of her friends introduced us and I'm meeting with her this weekend to 'go over the basics of sorcery'."

"Good." Cinder smiled; Emerald's eyes practically sparkled. "I'll await your success."

A gagging sound came from the left.

Cinder turned to the girl laying on one of the beds, seemingly ignoring them as she played with her scroll. "And you, Neo? Have you gotten into their system yet?"

Neo raised an arm and stuck her thumb down.

Cinder ran a fingernail along a desk, splitting the wood. "Why not?"

Neo rolled her eyes and stood up, pointing at Beacon's main tower through the window. She walked a hand up the side of her scroll, mimed typing, and shook her head.

"How disappointing." Cinder took a deep breath. That would be something else that she'd need to do herself because Mercury and Emerald also knew nothing about computers. "Change your focus to finding any of their hidden rooms. The campus used to be a fortress, there should be some hidden passage to the underground vaults."

Neo fished around her jacket pockets while the heat in the room grew. As it reached its peak, she pulled out three set of keys and opened a map on her scroll. The girl pointed to three parts of the tower in order. One was near the top, the second on the ground floor, and the third slightly underground.

Cinder glared at Neo and loudly rapped a heel against the ground. With each beat, keeping control of her arms became that much more difficult due to Neo. Though the girl looked normal, even bored, her true feelings were obvious to the Grimm. "Redouble your efforts. We must find a path down that is not trapped."

She wouldn't put it past Ozpin to have several false routes down with enough defenses to trap unwitting thieves.

Neo seemed to meekly accept Cinder's glare, but her roiling emotions revealed her true intentions. Cinder thrust a hand out and grabbed hold of her, arm extending to several feet long and shattering the illusion. The girl's were were pure white as her location was revealed.

As Cinder turned to Emerald, she smiled. "Bring her with you, hidden from sight. To properly ignite the tinder, we need definitive proof of her true nature."

"Right." Emerald nodded. "With both of us, I should be able to get ahold of her scroll and… and then..."

Cinder briefly closer her eyes, letting Neo go and returning her arm to a normal length. "Insert the chip I gave you and run the file when prompted. Also, leave several bugs behind in her room."

"We're not going there." Emerald looked away. "She wanted to meet up on campus."

"We need this information as soon as possible and we have no idea . Find a way this weekend."

"I don't know how I'll convince her this fast."

Cinder pursed her lips. "How would you describe Weiss Schnee?"

Emerald looked away. "Umm… Confident. Powerful. Has a way with words."

"Anything else?"

"Isolated and lonely."

"In that case, finding yourself in her room should be trivial." Cinder glided over to her and laid a hand on Emerald's shoulder.

Cinder pulled back, leaving only a single finger. She slowly ran it from the outside of Emerald's shoulder to the collar of her shirt. "She's been without her teammates for months."

The girl's lips trembled, her breath held. She gasped when the finger moved to her skin. "She's been without companionship for months. So much so that it is obvious to not only yourself, but fools like Sun Wukong as well."

Cinder ran the back of her nail up Emerald's neck, feeling her heart beat faster and faster. Her pupils dilated as Chinder raised her chin. She held it there, letting Emerald gaze up at her.

"I… I'm not like…"

"Emerald." Cinder brought her thumb up, "Don't lie to me."

"I… I can't, not if I don't-" Emerald flinched away as Cinder pulled her hand back, obsidian nails shining in the light.

"I does not matter whether or not _you_ are interested in her. You've found feelings that can be used against her." Cinder grabbed her chin again and turned Emerald's head back. "You have your looks, you have your skills, and you have your Semblance. You _will_ exploit any weakness of hers however you can. The feelings you evoke, the type of relationship that you pretend to want, neither matter."

"Y-Yes, ma'am." Emerald tried to look away.

"Don't dissapoint me, Emerald." Cinder turned away. Emerald's abilities made her ideal for such a task, but her personality was an issue. Mercury would have been delighted at the thought of seducing someone, only to destroy them later. If only he had any ability to be charming.

The door behind her slammed open and Mercury stepped in. "Guess who just kicke-"

A glance over her shoulder silenced him.

"Oh shit." Mercury closed the door and bowed his head. "Cinder, I, uhh, I finally got a match with Nikos."

"And?"

"Polarity, has to be." He held up a leg. "Nothing else would move metal much."

"It was that obvious?"

"Nope." He pulled up the pant leg, revealing his prosthetic. Mercury tapped halfway up the shin. "Slight nudges from here down, just enough to throw me off balance."

"And have you discovered any of the other combatants' Semblances?"

"Uhh." He dropped his head. "I've got a few."

"And how many will make it past the first round?"

"Maybe two or three."

"Are they all on the same team?"

"No."

"Then they're of no use to us. The doubles round and the final round are all that matter." She pushed past him. "All three of you need to work harder."

"Cinder." Emerald stepped forward. "Where are you going?"

"There are pawns which need to be placed before our first move." There were a number of items that should have been smuggled into Beacon at this point. "And the remaining White Fang require a firm hand."

She allowed spines to erupt from her knuckles. "Hopefully, Roman has been less... disappointing."

Returning her arm back to 'normal', Cinder left for the main airship dock.


	17. Chapter 3-1

"Good morning! Is anyone here?" Ruby stepped into the oldest, most run down, electronics store they could find. If any place had what they needed, this would be it.

"Yes?" An old man sat behind the counter, soldering iron in hand. "Can I help-"

As he turned, his jaw dropped, his hands trembled, and his soldering iron fell.

Ruby pulsed her Aura, dashing across the shop in the blink of an eye. She caught the iron before it hit anything, but that didn't stop the damage because the man jumped in his chair. He toppled over, landing on a box of circuit boards. Several of them snapped.

Ruby winced. "Are you okay?"

He stared at her, hyperventilating.

"Sir?"

"I-I-I C-Can I help you?" He crawled back until his back hit the wall. He leaned on it, slowly standing up without taking his eyes off of her. When his head got above the counter, they flickered to Yang and he flinched again.

"Uhh…" Yang held a hand up, brow twisted with tension. "I think so?"

Ruby placed his iron on the stand and pulled out her own scroll. She'd written down everything that Blake told her about and then dream-Weiss reiterated, which was still really weird. "We're looking for a Syrah T5. Preferable one that hasn't been patched yet."

His shivering paused. "What?"

"Yeah, it's supposed to be kinda old, but…" Yang shrugged, wings also shrugging at the same time.

"Old? It's almost nine years out of date."

"It's supposed to be super secure." Ruby looked up at him, smiling with eyes as bright as she could make. "Do you have one?"

The shivering came back. "I-"

Her smiled broke into an awkward grin. "It's alright. We're not-"

Yang quirked her head ot the side, one wing also moving. Crescent Rose's weight was also very noticeable all of a sudden.

"-monsters."

The man gulped, then nodded. He forced a smile while making noises halfway between chuckling and whimpering.

"A-Anyway." Ruby tried to laugh it off. "Do you have one?"

From the way he froze, she didn't succeed.

"Come on." Yang's eyes flashed to red. "You're fine. If we really wanted to hurt you, we would've already."

The man yelped, stepping back.

Ruby sighed while she through very loudly. ' _Blake, can you distract Yang for a little bit? She's kinda… stressed.'_

' _Give me a minute.'_ Blake sounded absolutely overjoyed at the idea.

Ruby clapped her hand on his counter, pulling his focus entirely back to her. "So, we have money and if you have it, I'll pay you and then both of us'll leave you alone."

 _She could feel the weight of his decision and simply smashed through it._ Yang perked up as the man calmed down slightly, but didn't say anything.

"I… I have one in the back." He looked at a door in the back of the shop.

Ruby moved her hand toward it and he started moving very slowly. When she didn't move, he took off, scurrying around displays like a man half his age.

As soon as he was out of sight, Yang walked up to her. "What was that?"

"What?"

"That thing you did to him."

"Oh… I made him accept that we were here to buy something, then leave."

"That's-" Yang raised her arms into the air. Cutting herself off with a glance to the side and a chuckle.

"What was that?"

"Blake was explaining something silly that a nurse did." Yang tried, and failed, to stop grinning. "Anyway, you shouldn't"- she snickered -"do that."

"Well how else were we supposed to get him him help us? He was so scared he could barely even answer questions."

"But that's-" Yang cut herself off when he came back out. She rubbed the sides of her head, squeezing her eyes closed. She growled between her teeth. "Shut up."

"Yang?"

"We're going to talk about this later." She whispered before stalking out of the shop.

The man waited for the door to completely close before holding out a small box with trembling hands. "H-Here it is ma'am."

He placed it on the counter as Ruby went for the belt pouch with her money.

The man gasped.

"Uhh…" Ruby stopped moving. "How much?"

"Nothing. None!" He shook his head. "Just take it and leave."

"Are you su-"

"Yes!"

Ruby picked it up and slowly backed out of the door. Yang was waiting for her.

"That was so we-" Ruby caught sight of the scowl.

"You didn't pay him."

"He didn't want anything."

"Did you force that too?"

"Wouldn't you feel that?"

Yang rubbed her forehead.

"I can't make someone do something they weren't thinking about doing anyway."

"That…" Yang clenched her fists. "That's still… not really okay."

 _Ruby could feel Yang's choice's weight._ "Yang?"

"What?" She snapped.

"I can feel that you're… conflicted."

"Is that the same thing you felt wit him?"

"Yeah."

"Why?" _The weight hadn't vanished._ "Why did you do it?"

"He was panicking."

"We could've, I don't know, just talked to him. Waited for him to calm down."

"This was…" Ruby drifted off.

"It was easier." Yang finished the sentence.

Ruby took a deep breath, slowly releasing it. Yang wasn't wrong, but she also wasn't completely right. "It helped him. He was calmer and we left sooner, so he doesn't have to worry."

"You took away his choice."

"I nudged him towards a better choice than attacking us or freaking out more."

"Because it would be easier."

"Because it would be better!" Ruby grabbed Yang's shoulders and forced her to face her. "Because…"

She got lost in her sister's eyes. A burning hatred resided in them… a hatred pointed more inward than outward.

"Yang." Ruby touched her sister's cheeks, feeling the heat pulsing under her skin. "What's wrong?"

"How could _you_ do that so… casually? You always knew what the right thing to do was and now you're just doing this without even thinking about it."

"What else am I supposed to do? Ignore something that could make someone's life easier?"

"How do you know it will?"

Ruby opened her mouth.

"And saying you can see the future doesn't count if you can change it."

"Yang, what's really wrong?"

"Let's talk up there." Yang pointed at a tall building and took off, flying up to the roof. Ruby kicked off of the ground and followed.

They landed at the edge, looking over a busy street. Even this high up, they were still visible and people looked up at them. Most looked away, a few bowed their heads. Yang pointed at two men standing behind a market stall.

"You see them?"

"The merchants?" They were older than Yang, probably by a few years.

"Yep, look closely."

They moved carefully, never resting their weight on particular arms or legs.

"That's my fault."

"You fought them?"

"No, I made them fight." Yang pointed to another building, its roof was scorched black. "I was attacked by invisible Grimm there and almost revealed myself. I started a brawl so I could run away."

"Oh…" Ruby might've been able to fix the injuries if Yang herself caused them.

"And over there." Yang pointed to a couple on a bench.

"Urgh." Ruby cringed. That was way too much touching and making out for being in public. "Why do you want me to look at that?"

"Because last week they weren't like that. Both were happily married to other people and now, this." Yang spat. "All because I forced my own feelings onto them to save myself."

"I get what you're thinking, but you're wrong. You saved more than just yourself; you saved Blake and probably their lives too."

Yang didn't respond.

"It might even be better this way. If they were going to do this anyway, might as well rip of the bandage instead of slowly pulling it." Ruby tried to smile. "I can check if you want."

"Check what?"

"Read their futures, see if it all works out."

Yang's expression sank. "No, I… Even if it does, I still shouldn't have been the one to make it happen."

"Sometimes we don't have good choices, so we have to pick the least bad one." Ruby grabbed Yang's shoulder and squeezed.

"Where'd you hear that?"

"Professor Goodwitch… and Weiss."

Yang signed. "I'm worried about Weiss and now you too."

"Why?"

"Blake and I had to cross lines we shouldn't've and… even though you both have done it too… you're both…"

"You mean, are our lines right?" Ruby whispered. That question kept her up at night. "Should we keep ourselves from making something good happen if the method might be a little wrong?"

"Yeah, we shouldn't, even if it seems like it mount do good, because doing that… just controlling people for their own good is how it starts."

"How what starts?"

"Becoming someone who needs to be put down for the good of everyone else."

"I'm... I'm not going to do that. None of us would ever-"

"Ruby." Yang looked at her, fire still burning. "You might be able to see the future, but I can see the past."

"What'd you mean?"

"I… I have the memories of an old Anathema, a bad Anathema." Yang shuddered. "They're not, easy to find or sortable, but I know everything important about her. Or, at least, everything she thought was important."

A chill ran down Ruby's spine. If Yang's memories were as vivid as some of the futures she'd seen… "What was she like?"

Yang looked to her right just before Blake landed. She was better, not as pale, but still not good.

"Hey, Blake." Ruby smiled.

"Did you get the scroll?" Blake looked at her, leaning on Yang.

"Yeah…"

"You want to call her?" Blake looked at the box. "She should hear this too."

"It's still the morning," Ruby said.

"Oh, right."

As team leader, Ruby had to wake them all up every day. Only one person ever yelled at her for it.

"Shouldn't she be waking up soon?" Yang raised an eyebrow.

"I think we're a few hours ahead of her."

Yang nodded.

"Anyway, memories."

Yang took a breath, hugging Blake. "The Anathema, Tialeth, she didn't start out terrible. She was just a girl, like us, with more power than anyone should have."

Yang conjured a ball of fire in her free hand. "She was a gladiator, became Anathema, and wound up in charge of a kingdom. Then… she started to make decisions about what her people should do and she... " Yang paused as a look of dread spread across her face.

"What did she do?" Ruby asked.

"It started off small, just smoothing over arguments, making her people stop fighting each other." Yang said hesitantly. "Then it became worse. She started overriding people because it made her goals easier… then because it was convenient… and eventually just because she wanted to. The thing I did in that fight, she did it almost all of the time."

"We wouldn't-"

"Bullshit!" Yang's eyes flared red. "You just did."

Ruby looked away, her face feeling too hot. "I… It's sort of become a reflex. Figure out the best thing for everyone and then make sure it happens."

"That's what I mean." Yang broke away from Blake and grabbed Ruby. "Ruby, you're my little sister and I'll always love you, but that's exactly how it starts and I will _not_ watch you become a monster like the woman in my head."

Ruby wrapped her arms around her. Yang's back was like steel. "Yang, I'm not going to do anyth…"

She couldn't finish that sentence, not after the last few months.

"Ruby?" Blake joined them, grabbing her shoulder. "I don't know exactly what you're thinking, but you're nothing like that."

Ruby gulped and looked away. "I… I still haven't stopped the curse."

"What curse?" Yang asked.

"Curses… I stopped any Hunters in Vale and Mistral from going after Anathema." Ruby reached for the patterns still attached to her soul. "And if they're really serious about it, they can't do anything. They wind up in hospitals because they can barely eat without help."

Yang gasped, but Blake didn't.

"If I let it go, they're going to come after us and start up the investigations again."

"If you do, innocent people will die. If you don't, even more people might die," Blake said.

"We shouldn't be making decisions like this. We're just kids." Yang squeezed tighter.

"But we have to." Ruby leaned into her.

"Because we already did other things."

"No." Ruby took a deep breath. "Because it's our responsibility."

"No, it isn't. We're-"

"Yang," Ruby cut her off. "It is. It isn't fair, it isn't right, but doing that, making decisions about how the world is going to work, is our responsibility."

Blake gasped, eyes as wide as Ruby'd ever seen them.

Yang looked at her, then back to Ruby. "What do you mean?"

 _What Ruby wanted to say was incredibly dangerous._ She hadn't felt a threat like that since she fought the Anathema woman on the train, right before the spell that made her hurt Yang in the first place.

"Ruby? What're you-"

"Give me a moment." Ruby bit her lip and _looked at their potential futures. There was no way to spare this pain, but there were ways to lessen it that she didn't have right now._ "Yang, can you trust me about something?"

"What?"

Ruby stepped back and grabbed Yang's hands. "I really, really want to explain what I mean, but it's not a good idea right now."

Yang frowned, grip becoming tighter and tighter. _The weight of the choice was overwhelming._

It would be so easy to just lean on it and make the better choice happen. Ruby was halfway to it when she caught herself. "Please?"

"When would be better?"

Her visions didn't say, but she had a guess. "When we're talking to Weiss."

Yang relaxed. "Okay."

* * *

 _She danced across a stage of ice, drawing a great array in the frozen water with her skates. Her blades left a spray of ice behind, cloaking her in a cloud of Silver. Her path spiraled from the center island in sweeping arcs. Each line was surrounded by smaller dashes, some made with her skates and others with her sword._

 _Again and again she circled, the passage of time marked by the falling leaves. The tree in the center of the island had gone from a vibrant orange to a dull brown. With each pass around, some of them returned to their proper color. However, it was not enough. All too soon, the branches would be bare, no matter how many rituals were completed._

 _Her fellow skaters each drew their own patterns alongside hers, their forms cloaked by the many colored clouds of ice. White, Red, Violet, and Green: each circled along with her own Silver, drawing their own patterns that complemented her own._

 _At they danced, getting ever further away from the tree, the lights shifted. One, two, three days passed until several figures appeared on the island's shore: Red, Pink, Green, Brown, Yellow, and also Green. These Greens were different than the skater; one was brighter, the other sharper, but neither had the same depth._

 _One by one, they knelt beneath the tree and allowed the leaves to fall upon them. Each one changed the Aura of whomever it hit, eating away at each in turn._

 _The sharp Green was the first to fall, the infection overcoming their form immediately._

 _Brown and Pink did not last much longer, though they did fight back._

 _Red, Yellow, and the bright Green stood resolute, but their own Auras were still diminished._

 _The leaves burned deep, destroying the colors as that crept toward the hearts of the figures. The falling leaves revealed a misty cloud of darkness within the branches. It floated above the tree, one long wire connecting to the trunk._

 _One by one, it connected to the three figures was pulled up, drawing all of their color away. They fell to the ground as she finished her third rotation around the island and with them, the tree's branches were bare._

Weiss woke up, the energy she'd channeled into her eyes still buzzing behind her lids. Submerging herself into the depth of not only her knowledge, but the Essence of the moon, was confusing and dangerous. However, insights that she could never have reached consciously became possible.

The last light of the Full Moon sank under the horizon as she came to. It was too early for this, but she wouldn't have any other time. Getting through the day ahead of her would take an unhealthy amount of caffeine.

Weiss let out her breath with a shiver as her companion took one of her own. Pyrrha's Aura was spilling from her meditation wildly, making the marble floor glitter like Fire Dust crystals. It surrounded her like a web, thicker stands looping out into the room until they turned and came back to her.

Weiss raised her sword, its movements disrupting Pyrrha's pattern. Her hand did as well, but the effect was much smaller. There was no question who the Red figure on the island was.

She let her Essence flow outward, gently caressing the turbulent portions of Pyrrha's until the strands settled down. Pyrrha's brow tensed. She sucked in a quick breath. Her eyelids flickered… but they didn't open and she didn't break her concentration.

An old scythe blade of Ruby's pulsed with power from the center of the room. Weiss conjured a glyph, floating the steel in front of Pyrrha. As it spun, a scarlet seeped into the glyph while Weiss pulled all of the residual energy from the training arena. The room was permeated with the Essence of Battle, a place where warriors learned their arts. With Ruby's residual power as a focus, Weiss fed it into Pyrrha's Aura, making the area expand.

For almost an hour, she drew the strands from Pyrrha, expending them and tightening them. When she got to the edge of the room, she stopped pushing. Pyrrha held it fairly steady, the bands expanding and contracting with her breath.

She remained that way until Weiss lightly tapped her on the knee. As soon as they touched, her focus broke and the wires snapped back.

As Pyrrha's eyes opened, the immense arcs of power became rings rotating maybe a foot around her. Moments later, they vanished entirely.

"You got the entire room this time." Weiss held out a hand.

Pyrrha took it, pulling herself up with a sigh. "I still lost control as soon as you distracted me."

Weiss patted her on the back. "We're trying to recreate an old and complex technique. It'll take time to figure it out."

Pyrrha nodded. "I suppose so."

Weiss paused. There was an unusual disappointment in Pyrrha's tone despite how great her strides had already been. While a potential shortcut existed, what exactly they would need to do to save the remainder of the Fall Maiden's power may be a bit much for Pyrrha. The notion of transferring a piece of a soul from one person to another felt like the sort of action which Pyrrha would say was wrong despite the similarity to their current project.

And yet, Red lasted a long time, long enough for their enemy to become visible and she was less sure about the other options.

"If faster methods existed, how much of a risk would you be willing to take?" She still needed to breach the topic.

Pyrrha watched her carefully. "There's something hidden in that question."

"There is."

"What?"

"The primary piece isn't relevant yet. I don't have permission to even offer it, let alone attempt it." She would need Ozpin's backing to even perform tests on her theory. "But, that doesn't mean it's the only way. Ruby, Blake, and Yang are all together again. With their help, we could do much more."

If Weiss could figure out how to draw upon the depths of power lurking within her soul, she could also make further improvements that much more easily. Though she didn't know how to even begin figuring that out.

"Do…" Pyrrha paused, looking away from Weiss as she grabbed her sword arm with her shield hand, closing her body off. "Do you think I need to?"

Weiss clenched her teeth. That was it, she could feel it in her bones. If she merely implied 'yes' then everything else would be so much easier. Pyrrha wanted to help and if she took that on, then she'd be able to so much more. Even if she didn't immediately accept, opening the possibility up would still open many paths.

There were so many spells that could empower someone and many other things that Weiss should be able to do with her abilities. Lunar Essence could empower any number of changes. Technically speaking, it already was.

But…

It would also be the wrong thing to do: preying on irrational insecurities just to make her own life easier.

Weiss shook her head. "You're an incredible fighter, even without this technique."

"You're my match now."

" _And_ I can't count on anyone else to let me know when I've gone too far."

Pyrrha smiled slightly. "Thanks."

Weiss mentally swore at herself, she could've done better than that. She should've done better than that. Pyrrha deserved as much; however, there was too much potential to ignore. "Besides, as the only one who knows what we've been doing, I have something very important that only you can do today."


	18. Chapter 3-2

The elevator doors slid open and Weiss stepped into the den of lions. She looked at each of the members of the secret group: Professor Ozpin, behind his desk; Professor Goodwitch, to his right; General Ironwood, on the side of the room; Taiyang Xiao-Long, on the opposite side; and Qrow-

"Glad you finally decided to grace us with your presence at this ungodly hour," Qrow said from right next to her, hidden by leaning on the wall. Having to call him from so far away had been an unexpected boon.

"I wasn't expecting a line of students outside of my office." Weiss walked past him, scoffing, even though she had taken her time arriving. If he was already annoyed, her plan would be that much easier. "Besides, I'm still a minute early."

He grumbled under his breath.

"Be that as it may." Professor Ozpin stood up from his desk. "I would like to know why you asked for all of us to be here in person."

Weiss looked at his desk, then the windows. Moments later, he dimmed them to complete darkness by activating high security mode.

As soon as the signal on her scroll died, Weiss said, "I believe that we should move up the timetable on transferring the Fall Maiden's power. At the moment-"

"What?" Qrow stomped forward. "We haven't decided anything like that."

"As I was saying." Weiss waited for a moment, looking at him over her shoulder. "At the moment, Amber's vitals are still declining. While we've managed to slow their progress, I have no means of actually fixing the problem of her souls tearing themselves apart."

"So you're just going to give up and kill her?" Taiyang said as Qrow stepped to his side.

Weiss turned away from him, looking at Professor Ozpin and General Ironwood. "Beyond the benefit of having someone with the Maiden's power active, this would also allow us to keep it safe from whoever the mysterious enemy is."

She let the statement sit with them while adding an implication to Taiyang. ' _I'm trying to help without knowing what we're fighting against.'_

"What?" He muttered. "Why don't you…"

Professor Ozpin sighed when Taiyang turned to him. "We haven't revealed everything to Miss Schnee for several reasons."

"Her talents were best used on investigating Amber's condition and the nature of the soul," General Ironwood looked her in the eyes. She flickered them down. "However, given her assistance with the military's objectives, I believe that she can help us against our enemy,"

"Really?" Qrow drew the word out. "You think we should tell her more so she can _help us_. I'm shocked."

Weiss ignored him, not even giving a glance. "Without knowing their capabilities or goals, I'm left in the dark regarding what other threats might appear."

"Glynda?" Ozpin gestured to her.

"The more information we give you, the more we depend on something that we shouldn't," Professor Goodwitch said. "'We would also risk even more information falling into hands that it shouldn't."

"Who exactly would I tell and why do you think I'd reveal such an important secret so easily?"

"Miss Rose, Miss Belladonna, Miss Xiao-Long, Miss Nikos, and Miss Adel." Professor Goodwitch adjusted her glasses. "As for why, because your true loyalty is to them."

Qrow and Taiyang tensed up even more.

"It's only natural to be loyal to those who've earned it." She shot the pair a glance. "And their talents would bring even more potential to the table, especially with their recent discoveries."

"You've been in contact with them?" Professor Ozpin leaned forward.

"Only one and not directly." Weiss lied without a single hesitation. "Ruby told me that she found a new method of protecting settlements against the Grimm."

"And you think this could hold up to a concentrated assault?"

"I don't know because I don't know their full capabilities."

He raised an eyebrow. "You should have learned a great deal about the Grimm so far."

"And the enemy that I'm unaware of is obviously related to them in some way."

"At this point, what is it that you think you know?" Professor Ozpin asked.

Weiss met his gaze with a grin. "Whoever this person is, they are either able to control a significant number of Grimm or are invisible to them. Otherwise, I would have been able to find some sort of reference within the threats to Atlas I have clearance to view."

Only Taiyang reacted, eyes widening slightly.

"They know about the Maidens and the truth of the Anathema. They also must either be personally powerful enough to take assassination off of the table or unable to be assaulted in some way. There has to be some form of organization involved in order for this person to command a global threat, but the organization itself does not need to be as safe as the head, who meets the other criteria."

Taiyang all but confirmed she was correct.

"With these concepts in mind, the most likely identity is an old Anathema who has taken control of one of the Class Four regions." She'd looked over all of Atlas' maps for the 'uninhabitable, undefendable, high-density Grimm' areas. "However, I don't know which of them is most likely."

"An almost accurate assessment." Professor Ozpin stood up and turned away, walking to one of the windows.

"Where was I wrong?"

"Scope and nature." He ran his thumb along the head of his cane. "She does not merely control a significant number of Grimm, she controls all of them."

Goosebumps ran down Weiss' spine. "What? How?"

"Because our enemy is not Anathema. She is Salem, the Lady Garbed in a Shroud of Darkness, Goddess of Spiritual Corruption, Fear, the Grimm, and Nightmares. Along with many other titles that I don't know." His voice held an edge that Weiss had never heard before.

"If she's a goddess, then why haven't other gods done something about her? I doubt this is how they're supposed to act." Even if fixing the mistakes of the Exalted fell on their own laps, a renegade goddess didn't sound like something the ancient ones caused.

"A question for the ages." Ozpin turned around. "Were I to hazard a guess, it is because she was not originally a goddess. She was as mortal as the rest of us. As for why the other gods have not acted.. Unfortunately, I have no answer."

Thoughts on the conversation Mars had with Ruby and the nature of gods whirled around her mind. Nothing she knew indicated that mortals could become gods outside of myths. Could Professor Ozpin be mistaken or misinformed? "Is this why there's so much official pushback against local religions?"

"Yes. By depriving her of prayer from whatever other titles she holds or identities she claims, she loses a significant amount of power."

"I see." Weiss looked at General Ironwood and slightly nodded. "That knowledge makes me even more certain that we need to act quickly. If gods can respond to their champions prayers, then all she would need to do to ruin us is for one of her people to infiltrate Beacon and have one of her agents find their way to the vaults."

"If someone found Amber's chamber like that, we would have already failed. Her greatest protection is the number of other sites where we could plausibly have her: the other academies, high security hospitals. Each of these has a fall back facility if our security is breached." Ozpin sat down again. "We would need a better reason to give up on healing her so early."

"Oz, I think that we should consider it," General Ironwood said. "Even if we wait to take action, we should have some idea who we would make the offer to."

"Yeah, no." Qrow stepped toward him. "If you're going to be this much of a puppet, then why are you even-"

"Enough." Weiss took a deep breath. This was the big moment she needed. "Why are you being so much worse than normal?"

"You need me to spell it out for you?"

"I'm fairly certain I know, but It wouldn't be the same if the words didn't come from your own mouth."

He stalked up to her, stepping so close that she'd have to crane her neck to meet his eyes. "Maybe I'm pissed off because a monstrous bit-"

Weiss stepped back and maliciously grinned, revealing pointed teeth that gleamed in the low light. _She allowed a sliver of predatory intent to be released, the same power that held weaker people speechless, focused entirely on him._

"What the hell do you?" His hand moved for his weapon, but stopped when she didn't react.

"A reminder of the importance of manners." She crossed her arms, maintaining her glare. "Pointless aggression where you discount any opinion that may be similar to mine helps no one."

Weiss nodded her head toward Professor Goodwitch. "The two of us have been working on a number of sorcerous projects. Would you say that us agreeing on useful spells means that she's a puppet?"

Professor Goodwitch began moving forward, but Professor Ozpin slightly raised his hand and she stopped. He frowned at Weiss, but didn't interfere further.

"That's different-"

"It's exactly the same. I assist General Ironwood with intelligence analysis not military strategy." Weiss lied. "Now, why are you so annoyed?"

"Bullshit." He growled through his teeth. "They're going to have you help destroy the two best things to ever happen to me."

Taiyang coughed, crossing his arms.

"To us."

Not smiling took all of Weiss' self control. Instead, she snarled. "Do you really think they would be so stupid as to let _me_ be involved in planning that? Or that I would ever actually do it?"

"It would be a conflict of interests as large as the two of your being involved." General Ironwood stepped forward. "We have a large number of people working on the strategy for the deployment."

He, of course, left off the fact that Weiss was three of the analysts developing it. She couldn't control everything, but she could do enough.

"Bu-"

"Qrow!" Professor Ozpin interrupted him. "While I may share many of your suspicions, I doubt that James would be so foolish as to place her in a position where she could act that freely. This is also why I removed you from the list of people going after them."

Weiss released Qrow from the effects of her _charm_ … Charm was the name Tialeth gave her for such abilities. "If I wanted to take control of something, I wouldn't be here. My father could have 'called me home because of how unsafe Beacon is' and then I'd quickly wind up ruling over Atlas' economy. However, I wouldn't be able to directly help everyone on Remnant if I was doing that."

Qrow turned away and took a swig from his flask.

"Though." Weiss glanced at Taiyang. "If we could bring all of team RWBY on board, and I do think we could, then we'd have more ability to create an impact than ever before."

"And what would you do the next time Miss Rose decides that something she disagrees with is occurring?" Professor Ozpin asked. "She's already proven beyond anyone's abilities to control."

"To say nothing of what the rest would do." General Ironwood continued. "You're willing and able to work within the system we have. I haven't seen any proof that they are or even that they can."

"Very well, I can see when I'm out voted." Weiss sighed with great exaggeration, still watching Ruby and Yang's father. "Can we move back to the topic of Amber? Who would each of you propose?"

"No one," Qrow said between drinks. "I still think you haven't tried everything."

Professor Goodwitch scowled at him. "I have no strong opinion."

"There is one student at Atlas Academy who may be a possibility." General Ironwood pulled out his scroll and tossed an image onto the screen. "Penny Polendina. She has the necessary strength of Aura and is already informed about several top secret pieces of information."

"Wasn't she the girl who was desperately trying to contact Miss Rose?" Professor Ozpin tapped his own scroll. "I can see several hundred messages being sent from Beacon's tower alone."

General Ironwood tensed. "While she is, she also could be trusted to use the power in the best interests of all. She also has the ability to remember Ruby Rose, which speaks to her mental fortitude."

"And you, Professor Ozpin?" Weiss looked at him.

His eyes bored into her. "I've asked the other headmasters for their opinions. One of them had high support for Miss Emerald Sustrai. She is residing at Beacon for the Vital Festival, but not participating in the tournament."

That made Weiss' next meeting much more important.

Professor Ozpin pulled up Pyrrha's student records, highlighting her Aura category. "Ordinarily, I would say that Miss Nikos was an ideal candidate, but her other"- he looked directly at Weiss -"associations mean that I cannot recommend her. Another potential candidate has the exact same problem."

"I'd agree." Weiss nodded. "This isn't a decision which should be made lightly."

"Alright, I guess I need to be the one to say this." Taiyang stepped forward and took a deep breath. "What are you all talking about? Do any of you have any idea what it means to be a parent or what you'd be forcing on these girls?"

Professor Goodwitch and General Ironwood looked at each other, then shrugged. Professor Ozpin narrowed his eyes slightly, but was back to the stony mask almost immediately.

"It's not right to push this responsibility on kids. Why does it have to be a student? Couldn't Glynda do it?"

Professor Goodwitch shook her head. "I would volunteer as an option of last resort, but we don't know what the effects would be and a younger person's Aura is more malleable. They would recover from the stress of the procedure more easily."

"All that we know about souls backs this up." Weiss backed her up. "Much like the wear and tear on a body, a person's souls age and accumulate energy which I'm not quite sure of the importance of, but it does hold the soul in a particular shape. The procedure would disturb this, so someone with less built up would be safer."

"Okay, okay. You've made your point. I still don't like it, but…" Taiyang rubbed his chin. "If there's a risk, why not a younger, older Huntress who is trustworthy and may be willing to take the risk? I've heard good things about Celeste Arc and she's still pretty young, all things considered."

"Hmm." Professor Ozpin tapped his cane. "She does lack any of the unfortunate connections and has a strong moral character. However, until Ruby's curse is broken, we wouldn't be able to speak with her at length. Anyone else?"

"There is someone who you may have overlooked," Weiss said. "Nora Valkyrie."

Professor Ozpin raised an eyebrow.

"She has a powerful Aura and while the unfortunate connections are present, she's the most anti-Anathema person I've ever met."

The meeting rapidly descended into the merits and flaws of each of the candidates, but that didn't truly matter.

* * *

Ruby stared at the brick of a scroll they'd bought, finger hovering over the call button. She looked from Blake to Yang. "Are we sure about this?"

"It's what dream Weiss said to do." Yang tried to poke it, but Ruby moved it away. "Well, yelled at us to do... You all had the same dream where she had all of us sitting around a table, right?"

Ruby and Blake both nodded.

After a moment, Ruby nudged Blake. "How does she do the dream thing?"

"No clue," They said in stereo.

"So... we're sure that it was really Weiss?"

"Why wouldn't we..." Yang drifted off. "The Grimm…"

"If there's invisible Grimm that can make you feel things, why not make you dream things?"

They all took a long breath, eyes on the call button.

"It wouldn't make any sense." Blake spoke first. "Why would the Grimm or the Grimm cult want us to call a phone?"

"Maybe they're also evil telemarketers?" Ruby awkwardly smiled.

"That's a little redundant." Yang chuckled and glanced over her shoulder. "Also, I'm with Blake. I really don't see how us calling them might be bad unless they're waiting for us to be distracted, but I can't feel anything."

Ruby looked around as well. The little clearing they'd found outside of the city was empty. _When she opened her eyes to the hidden part of the world, the generic tiny bugs hadn't filled back in from Yang's first explosion._ "I can't see anything."

"Soooo." Yang moved her finger close to the scroll again.

Ruby tapped 'call' before Yang could, making her sister scowl.

It rang once, twice, and then stopped.

"Hello?" A girl answered with a strange metallic twang that made her voice incredibly deep.

"Umm, hi?"

"Who's... umm… wait... The sun shines above us."

"But the moon can..." Ruby paused. There was a special set of things Weiss told them to say.

"But the moon can darken the sky." Blake finished it.

"For whom does the wind speak?" The girl asked.

"For the musicians and engineers," Ruby said her phrase.

"For the authors and activists," Blake was next.

"For the adventurers and libertines," Yang finished. "Along with our host."

The girl on the other end sighed with relief. When she spoke again, she wasn't making her voice sound weird. "For the warriors of the gods."

"Pyrrha!" Ruby shouted.

"Hello." She sounded as cheerful as ever.

"Why? How? Also, why were all of the passwords so weird?"

"I, er, Weiss and I have been very busy and I don't know."

"They're pretty close to what spies used in a book I loaned her." Blake shook her head.

"So, Pyrrha," Ruby said. "Why do you have Weiss' scroll?"

"She gave it to me this morning because she's going to be in meetings all day."

"This morning?" Ruby checked her scroll and confirmed that it should be right after sunrise at Beacon. "How? Weiss hates the morning."

"We spent all of last night together. I doubt she's slept yet."

"Oh really? Tell me more," Yang said with a very dangerous smirk.

"We've been attempting to rediscover an old Aura technique. It takes hours of meditation, along with her assistance to make any progress. We've also tried to find more people who are... comfortable with everyone else… like you three."

"Ohhh…" Yang cooed. "Who else have you found?"

"Coco Adel is the only person so far, she joined us almost immediately, and I think Emerald Sustrai, one of the girls from Mistral, has potential."

"Mhh Hmm." Yang licked her lips.

"Yang?" Ruby whispered. "What're you doing?"

Blake rolled her eyes. "That is not what's happening."

"So, the threesome's becoming a foursome?" Yang smiled.

"I certainly hope so," Pyrrha said brightly.

"Yang!" Ruby and Blake shouted.

She rolled her eyes, but seemed to relax more than Ruby'd seen all day. "Ruin all of my fun, why don't you… Weiss' reaction will be so good."

"What would you…" Pyrrha whispered before shouting. "Wait, no! We didn't. I mean, I would never!"

"Pyrrha, chill." Yang sighed. "I was just having fun and even if you did, which I know you didn't, I'd just congratulate you."

They stood in silence for a very long moment.

"Can we please change the topic of conversation?" Pyrrha's voice was so soft the scroll cut part of it out.

"Seconded." Blake raised her hand.

"Thirded." As did Ruby.

"You're all so boring…" Yang blew her bangs up. "But, fine, I'll stop. It really needs to be Weiss herself."

"Thank you," The other three said, Pyrrha's response staggered.

"Why exactly are you trying to find other people?" Blake had the first question.

"We're trying to find those who either know the truth about… all of you and are okay with it or those who we think would be," Pyrrha said.

"Why?"

"Because we'll need a lot more support if we want to enact the changes that we want."

Yang clenched her fists. "Which are?"

"Making society more harmonious and fair"- Pyrrha's words made Yang's eyes flash red. -"along with eliminating the Grimm."

Blake and Yang's eyes went wide. "What?"

Ruby gulped and _looked at her potential outcomes. This was one of the least bad options._ "Yang, do you remember the thing I didn't want to talk about until we got ahold of Weiss?"

"Y-Yeah." Her sister stuttered, still staring at the scroll.

"Do you trust Pyrrha to be honest with you? She was there too."

Yang slowly nodded. "No offense, Pyrrha, but you're a terrible liar."

"I'm getting better." Pyrrha didn't sound happy about that.

"She's not lying and I'll make sure everything's true." Blake smiled.

Ruby took a deep breath and grabbed Yang's hand. "Before I left Beacon… I got really mad at… well a lot of stuff. I killed a bunch of Grimm and yelled at Mars' constellations… and she answered."

"Mars? You mean, Pyrrha's goddess?"

"Yes, but also mine. She's the one who made me what I am." Ruby said softly, letting the red sign appear on her forehead. "This is her symbol."

"S-she came down and offered you power and you just said yes?" _Yang's question was surrounded by risk._

"No." Ruby shook her head, giving Yang a squeeze. Blake slipped to the side to join her. "It just happened. I didn't know anything about what was going on."

"It just…" Yang froze, mouth hanging open and heart racing.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing!" Yang snapped. "What… what did she say?"

Ruby looked at Blake, then to Yang. "I was really mad back then. I yelled at her about not helping, about abandoning us. She said that the gods gave the world to the Chosen, their word for Anathema, to rule over."

Blake froze halfway to hugging Yang. "Rule?"

"Yeah, rule." Ruby stepped back. "It's all ours and… it's also our responsibility to make the world better because long ago... the Anathema broke it."

"Broke it?" Yang shouted.

"I'm really not sure exactly what Mars meant, but they tore everything to pieces by fighting and just barely stitched it back together. Right before this, they also made the Grimm."

 _A feeling of incredible danger ran down her spine._ Before Yang to say anything, Ruby continued. "Don't worry! She said that I should be able to deal with them by the time I'm two hundred! If all of you help, we can do it even faster."

Both of them stared at her.

"I… she said that we're supposed to work together and-"

"She said that we have to fix it, right?" Yang interrupted. "She said that the gods aren't going to do anything."

"T-they aren't going to help us. The Anathema broke the world they were given, so it's their responsibility to fix it. Even if none of the ones who did it are still alive." Ruby closed her eyes. "I… This is why I can't just stop doing what I can to help, even if it's a little bad. I don't think we can do that, actually fix it and help everyone, without using everything we have."

"P-Pyrrha, is this true?" Yang whispered. "Did they really abandon us?"

"Yes, I heard it as well. Though, I wouldn't necessarily think of it as aband-"

Yang looked at Blake.

Blake nodded.

Yang dropped her head to Blake's shoulder and screamed.

The ground rumbled. The air swirled. The grass ignited.

"Why? Why? Goddammit why?"

"Yang?" Ruby held a hand out.

"No! I don't care. You're still wrong!" She shouted, hair burning bright gold. "Screw you and your Reclamation!"

Ruby met Blake's eyes, but she was just as surprised.

"I will not let you take any of this. If I'm supposed to keep it safe then I'll just start with-"

 _Ruby opened her ears to the sounds around them. Yang's Aura was erupting with a vicious song and the cold flows of energy were heating up._

"Yang, stop!" Ruby shouted, grabbing her sister. "You're going to blow up the city!"

Yang blinked at her. "What?"

"Whatever you're doing, it's making the energy rivers wake up." _Ruby slammed into the weight of Yang's choice with as much force as she could._

Yang flinched, her Aura calming down. "Sorry, sorry."

"What was that?" Blake laid a hand on Yang's cheek. "The demon?"

"Yeah." Yang nodded.

"Demon?" Ruby raised an eyebrow.

"You know how you just got your power, sis?" Yang clenched her teeth. "I didn't. I had a choice."

"Yang…" Ruby gasped.

"This demon showed up and told me about how I wouldn't have let so many people get hurt if I had more power. How I would've found my mother if I just had more." She held her eyes closed. "I was so stupid. I said yes and now it's still here, in my head, trying to make me break everything. If I ignore it, then it just gives me even more of a headache."

"I didn't know."

"It's not your fault." Yang rubbed her eyes and stepped away from Blake. "It's mine. And now I need to live with it or this power's going to go to someone who will listen to it."

"Yang, you should relax." Blake grabbed her hand again.

"No, I need to get this under control." Yang flapped her wings, looking at Ruby. "You said there was somewhere that everything was safe even through the energy was moving?"

Ruby nodded. "Yeah, we should be able to get there pretty fast, but…"

She held up the phone. "Pyrrha, let Weiss know that we're going to be out of range for this scroll for a few days."

Yang tapped her shoulder. "Also… Thanks."

"For what?"

"I felt what you did… It was the right time."

"You sure?"

"Yeah." Yang gave her a hug.

"What did you do?" Blake raised an eyebrow.

"I'll explain on the road." Ruby sighed. That would be a long one that also might give Blake a headache.


	19. Chapter 3-3

Penny scanned her memory list again. The gap was still there, staring at her. There were thirty seconds of file corruption.

"Ciel," She called to the other side of their suite. "Are you there?"

"Yes," Ciel said from her room.

"Can I ask you something?"

"You just did."

Penny took a moment to consider it. "So I have. Can I ask you another question after this one?"

"Yes."

Penny thought about her partner for a second, would she know the answer. "If you forgot something, and knew that you forgot it, what would you do to figure out what it was?"

She waited for five and a half seconds, then said, "What did you forget?

"Part of a conversation."

"Then ask someone who was part of it."

Penny thought about it for a moment she didn't have too many options. "Ciel?"

"Yes?" Her partner growled.

"Do you remember when we were talking to Weiss Schnee?"

"Which time?"

"The first one."

"When she asked you about The Girl in Red?"

"Yes! I forgot something in the middle of it and I don't know what that is." Penny re-played that memory while she waited for Ciel.

"She asked, you said that you didn't know, and then we left."

That was exactly what Penny remembered. If she didn't have timestamps, it would've been almost seamless. "I see, thank you!"

"You're welcome."

Penny turned back to her desk and played the memories again. They flowed perfectly; there were no stutters or sudden changes in anyone's position, like a bad movie might have. The only difference was the time and length.

There was only one person who did anything else like this and, even though she hadn't responded the past forty-eight times Penny called, maybe this one would work.

Penny called the scroll Ruby sent her last message from. When she heard her teammates start moving around, she dashed over to her desk. 'Her scroll' was lying on top of it with dead batteries. As the ringing started, she held it to her ear.

Her father and General Ironwood were very insistent that she hold a scroll like a normal person would when making calls, even if she was by herself and it wasn't needed.

After five rings, someone picked up. There were so many people in the background that they almost drowned her voice out.

"Hello?" She sounded nothing like Ruby.

"I'm sorry," Penny sighed. "This must be a wrong number."

"Penny, wait!" The woman shouted. "It's me, Ruby."

"But… you don't sound like Ruby."

"Give me a minute?"

"Okay."

Penny heard the woman speak rapidly to someone else about a price and then a whooshing wind. One minute and three seconds later, Penny said, "It's been a minute."

"That's a… never mind." The woman grumbled. "And-"

"-now." Her voice completely changed.

"Ruby!"

"Hi, Penny." Ruby giggled. "Sorry about all that. I just wanted to buy lunch without anyone freaking out."

"Why would someone do that?"

"Because I'm the Girl in Red and they're terrified of me, and Yang, and… well, maybe not Blake. People don't seem to realize what she is as much."

"I'm not terrified of you!" Penny smiled brightly, even though Ruby couldn't see her.

"Thanks," Ruby sighed. "It's good to talk to you again Penny."

"You too!" Penny moved over to her bed, flopping onto her back. The extra strength springs still groaned. "When do you think you can come back?"

"I'm…" Ruby paused for four seconds. "I'm not sure. I don't really think I can, at least, not as myself."

"You mean you'd need to be in disguise?"

"Yeah, but then no one would recognize me."

"Oh… That might make it hard."

"Mmh hmm."

"Ruby." Penny carefully considered what she was going to say. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure!"

"What happens when people forget about you?"

"I… Ummm…"

"Maybe that's the wrong thing to ask." Penny stared at the ceiling. "Maybe, it would be better to say, when someone forgets about you, how do they remember you later?"

"Well, Blake had a note she wrote for everyone that made it easier."

"Do you think she'd write me one about Weiss?"

"Why would you need that?" Ruby said, then mumbled something. "Also, she says she probably could."

"I can't remember something that I was talking to her about."

Ruby went silent.

Penny waited, counting the number of seconds down while she checked on her assignments. All of her homework for this week would be easy since it was all in the main database.

She could ask General Ironwood about this too. He probably would know some tricks to-

 _No wait, that would be a silly idea._

Instead, Penny asked, "Ruby? Are you still there? The connection is still open."

"I'm here, I'm just looking at possible futures."

"You can do that?" Penny gasped. "What's my future?"

"Let's see… you're going to… no… no, no, no."

"What's wrong?"

"Penny… I." Ruby took several very fast breaths. "Where are you?"

"At Beacon." Penny turned all of her focus to the connection. "What's wrong? What's gonna happen to me?"

"Nothing. Nothing will happen if I can find a-" Ruby gasped. "I… oh… that's not good… but-"

"Ruby, please. If there's a problem, I can help!"

"Give me a moment. If I don't figure out a way to stop this, you're going to die in about a month." Ruby was breathing so fast there was no way she was getting enough air.

"That's silly, Ruby. I'm not going to die." Penny whispered, "I'm not sure if I can because of… you know."

"When I look at the future, it tells me how I'd see whatever happens, happen. I know what people dying means. This isn't, you going to sleep for a while and then getting… rebooted? This is your soul leaving your body… and not coming back."

Penny let the scroll fall from her hand so that she could focus on everything she knew about Ruby. She stopped herself from having any other reactions and thought about what her friend had told her before.

Lots of people claimed they could see the future and they were almost always wrong. If Ruby thought something like that, then chances were she was wrong too. Though… Ruby was also her friend and she needed to believe her friends about important things. "I… I don't think that's likely to happen. I'm here with my team and I'm combat ready."

"That's not enough."

"How would it happen then?"

"I don't know. I can't see specifics, just general information."

Penny frowned. She really wanted to believe Ruby, but-

 _No, wait! She should believe Ruby because Ruby was her friend._

"Ruby!" Another girl's voice came through the connection. "Isn't that what Yang told you to stop doing?"

Ruby shouted back, "This is really important!"

"Important enough to do it twice?"

"Can you feel when I do it now, too?"

"No, it was obvious because of how you looked."

"Ruby?" Penny tried to interrupt. "What did you do?"

"I- I wanted to make sure you made the choices that would keep you alive." Ruby groaned. "It's really hard to explain, but I can sort of feel when people are thinking about that and nudge them."

"Oh…" Penny considered how many programs her father had given her to advise her on so many things. "Thank you."

"What?"

"I am glad that you're a good enough friend to do that for me."

"Blake, she's thanking me," Ruby said completely deadpan. "She's thanking me for…"

"What's wrong with Atlas?" The other girl groaned. "Besides the obvious."

"There isn't anything wrong with Atlas," Penny said even though the other girl probably couldn't hear her. "Ruby, is there anything I can do to make your future better?"

"Umm, yeah… Talk to Weiss about the memory thing… the day after tomorrow."

"Why then?"

"I don't know."

"Okay." Penny waited for a moment. "Is there anything else you'd like to talk about? There were a bunch of girls talking about which boys asked them to the dance earlier."

"Eh."

"What about the Goliath Grimm that was singlehandedly killed by a cloaked woman in South Vale?"

"I'd really rather not talk about Grimm right now… or potential Anathema."

"Okay." Penny drummed her fingers against her thigh. "I also saw a number of interesting weapons at sparring today."

"Ohhh…" Ruby cooed. "Tell me more."

* * *

Weiss arrived at her meeting point several minutes early, taking a seat on the edge of the fountain. She watched the drops of water fall, each catching the light of the setting sun. Emerald was approaching from that way, walking with almost as much hip as Coco, without the very high heels forcing it.

"Good evening." Weiss met her eyes, then looked down, raising an eyebrow.

Emerald smiled. "Nice to see you again."

"Agreed." Weiss waved a hand to the side. Emerald joined her on the fountain. While she initially sat an appropriate distance away, she quickly slid so that she was sitting close enough that Weiss could accidentally place her hand on Emerald's.

Weiss looked at the small gap between them. "Is there something you'd like to start with?"

Emerald flipped her bangs to the side, leaning forward slightly. "Well, we're supposed to be talking sorcery…"

Weiss smiled. "What is it that you'd like to know about?"

"Well…" She licked her lips. "I was hoping you could help me decide what to chose. Sorcery sounds interesting, but difficult."

"It is both. If you've spoken to Nora much, I'm sure you've heard of her challenges to learn it."

"The book of riddles?"

Weiss nodded.

"I helped her with a few of them. They were… interesting, but I'm not sure how they help someone learn magic."

"They're supposed to bring you to the proper mindset about the nature of the world and how you interact with it." _Weiss called upon the water around them, infusing their surroundings with its Essence, and transmuting the air into swirling globe of water that hide them from view._ As an afterthought, she also pulled in some of the Solar Essence from the setting sun, creating dazzling streaks of light that rotated around them. "Breath freely."

Emerald gasped, taking a deep breath as they were submerged. Her eyes went wide and one hand covered her mouth.

Weiss opened her mouth wide and inhaled. While her throat was flooded with water, it was as comfortable as breathing slightly chilly air.

Emerald slowly took a breath. "Woah…"

Weiss smiled, focusing too much to speak.

Emerald paused, pursing her lips, then glancing at Weiss' eyes. When she spoke again, "It's incredible… Beautiful."

Weiss pulled the spell to her back, dropping the water into the fountain. Even though she pulled all of it back to keep them dry, _an image of what Emerald looked like with her jacket open and shirt soaked through flashed in her mind._ "Yes it is."

"And you barely had to do anything." Emerald smiled, hesitating again as she glanced away. "Pretty cool."

"I am the only freshman Sorcery TA for a reason." Weiss blinked a couple of times. She could still clearly remember the sight of what Emerald could've looked like, a fantasy that she shouldn't be having right now.

"Think you could teach me to do it? Maybe not water, but, like..." She paused, eyes matching the smile. "Maybe transformation? Or healing?"

"I don't know." Weiss pushed any strange thoughts down. "How much are you willing to work for it? I'm already helping Nora."

Emerald froze for a moment, looking away from Weiss and back to their dorms. "I have all night to convince you, don't I?"

"Of course." Weiss paused, _listening carefully. Emerald's heart was racing._ If she was going to be that forward, some nerves were natural. "Emerald, what would you do for power like that?" ' _Or potentially even more. If you're willing to accept the risk.'_

She straightened up. "I'd do… Almost anything."

"Almost?"

Emerald couldn't look at her. "Yeah."

"Sorcery doesn't do almost. You either use everything you have-" Weiss laid a hand on Emerald's shoulder, pulling back when she flinched. _The girl's entire body tensed up for a moment, the scent of terror spilling from her._ -"or you don't try at all." ' _Though, I would still have a place for you if you didn't'_

Emerald took a deep breath and turned back to her. "Anything then."

Weiss stared at her as the mask was quickly replaced. She recognized those eyes, she knew that fear, and she had made sure either would never appear on any member of her family ever again. It was a reaction born of pain that could only be caused by a loved one.

"Emerald." Weiss placed her hands on her lap. "Do you want to speak somewhere more private?"

"You mean... back to your room?" Emerald half smiled, eyes lighting up. _The way she was leaning make the thought of her shirt being unbuttoned come directly to mind._

Weiss met the smile, forcing the image away. "Of course. We'll speak more there."

Emerald stuck close to her side as they walked down the hall. A few times, Weiss let the natural movement of her arms brush her fingers against the other girl's. The first time, Emerald flinched, but after that she awkwardly smiled.

Weiss let Emerald enter first, closing the door behind her. "Emerald, what exactly do you want from me?"

"What do you-"

Weiss held up a hand and dropped her happy expression. "You've asked me about sorcery, reacted to my other hints, but I can't help wondering."

"Well, it's hard to not-"

Weiss stalked closer, _forcing Emeralds eyes to meet her own._ She leaned in, laying her hand on the side of the girl's face. "Emerald, what do you really want me to do? You've been less subtle than Yang."

Emerald shivered, pupils dilating. _Her lips glistened as the image of what they might feel like to kiss appeared before Weiss._ "I-I, umm…"

 _Weiss wrapped them in an illusion, denying Emerald her memory of what was going to happen._ She also pushed the foolish thoughts deep into the recesses of her mind where they wouldn't distract her any more. Just kissing her was too tempting right now. "Emerald, what do you think of me of what I am?"

Emerald averted her eyes. "You're very pretty and I'd really like to-"

"Not that," Weiss said. "What do you think of what I have implied?"

"A-Anathema." Emerald stammered, eyes locked on Weiss' hand.

"And what do you think about that?" _Weiss allowed her predatory terror to slip free._ "Tell me honestly."

"T-That it means you're better than everyone else. Someone whose side I would want to be on."

"You would help me. Even if it mean going against Vale, Mistral, or your Academy."

"I don't owe them anything." An edge crept into her voice. "I… Yes, I would."

Oh was it tempting. On one hand, one of the other Academy Headmasters seemed to trust her, which meant that she had a good amount of power. On the other, there would be no better trap if Ozpin wanted to set one. Though, Weiss did have means to get around that.

Ruby or Yang would be livid at her if they ever found out what she was about to do. Pyrrrha would probably understand after an explanation. Someone so perfect appearing like this didn't simply happen by coincidence. A girl who suspected her of being Anathema, was okay with it, and was also interested in Weiss herself demanded the strongest methods that she had. Whatever hidden loyalties may exist, would become hers.

" _Emerald." Weiss allowed her voice to drip with silver venom. "I want you to understand that I am not someone to cross lightly."_

She shuddered and nodded, just like Weiss' father had shortly after she awakened to her power.

" _If I accept you, you will be loyal and honest. Do you understand?"_

Emerald gasped slowly nodding.

 _Weiss reinforced it, crafting her Essence into an image of her secret society and tying it to the feelings currently within Emerald's heart._

Weiss let her go and stepped back.

 _The illusion over their conversation vanished._

Emerald snapped back to how she was before. She met Weiss' eyes again, this time a blush creeping to her cheeks. "You're beautiful."

Bile rose in the back of Weiss' throat. What had happened to this girl? She was more attracted _after_ being supernaturally terrified and bound! But, that was not something she could show just yet. "Thank you. You are as well."

Her eyes lit up. "Then you-"

Weiss cut her off by placing a finger on her lips. "However, we've only just met."

"Right." Emerald looked away. "I wouldn't want to…"

"It's alright." Weiss was also certain that Blake would disapprove of her doing anything without asking first. Yang, by comparison, would congratulate her and then seduce someone else in the spirit of competition. "I'd like to get to know you more too. Can I get your number?"

"Sure, it's eight fou-"

"My scroll's dead; I'll enter mine in yours."

Emerald hesitated, then pulled it out, offering it to her. "Sure."

 _Weiss weaved an illusion of slowly typing on the device. In reality, she'd plugged one of the military's virus chips in and set it up._

"There you go." Weiss handed it back with a smile.

"Great." Emerald put it away, then folded her hands behind her back as if she was waiting for orders.

When Weiss raised an eyebrow, she cringed and went back to an almost normal posture… the only difference was her thrusting her chest forward slightly.

There were so many things wrong with that reaction which needed to be investigated before Weiss did anything else.

"I'm actually feeling a little more tired than I expected." Weiss faked a yawn. "Would this be alright for tonight?"

"Uhh… sure…" Emerald's shoulders sagged.

"We can eat breakfast tomorrow." Weiss smiled and stepped out of the way.

"Right. " Emerald met her eyes for a long moment. She fiddled with her collar, fanning her neck with it, and started moving.

Weiss held the door for her. "Have a good night."

"'You too." Emerald waved.

As she walked away, Weiss listened closely to her heartbeat. It was still fast, but she needed something else. She had studied sympathetic connections for weeks. She could send anyone a dream through their belongings, but that was secondary. The strongest connection would be between a person and those who matter to them. Someone had terrified Emerald, someone important, and the heart was the window to the soul.

 _A single name resonated from Emerald's connections, dominating all others: Cinder._

Weiss had checked every one of the other teams even though she wasn't fighting in the tournament. Cinder Fall was Emerald's team leader; she'd been injured over the break, making the team unable to participate

As the door closed, Weiss pulled her scroll out. If Cinder was the terror ensnaring Emerald's heart, then Weiss needed to know everything about her that she could to unravel it. Even if Emerald was a honeypot, no one deserved to be treated in a way that inspired those reactions. She could do better, in more ways than one; though, she needed to talk to her girlfriends about what they were okay with before acting further.


	20. Chapter 3-4

Ren caught the charge with his legs, leaping on top of his opponent's shield and springing away. He flipped in the air, making his sleeves billow out as he touched down.

Pyrrha whirled, raising her shield to block a counter attack. It would not come because the time was not right.

He took a breath and focused on his Aura, pouring energy into it as he exhaled. He spread his arms slightly, presenting both palms as they began glowing with a faint pink.

She pulled her weapon behind her shield, the sounds of metal on metal making the shift obvious.

"Sword, Longspear, or Rifle? Each says something different about the person wielding them." He asked, just loudly enough for her to hear. The style he was using was made by philosophers and teachers. While he couldn't call himself either, especially not to Pyrrha, practice was important.

His opponent narrowed her eyes and twirled.

Four shots rang out as she stepped forward, her rifle slotted into the side of her shield. The first was completely wide.

Ren stepped to the side, hand moving into the path of the remaining bullets. _His Aura caught two of them between each of his middle three fingers._ Better, but not good enough for what he needed.

"You keep your distance, afraid of what could happen if you get close to someone." _He pushed more power into his own spin, taking Pyrrha's attack with him and firing it back with more force._

The first slammed into her shield, moving it out of the way just enough for the second to catch her shoulder.

She spun in the air, weapon shifting again.

Ren spared a glance to the scoreboard. She'd lost more Aura than he did in the exchange, but it wasn't enough.

As soon as he looked away, Pyrrha threw her shield.

While Ren questioned her reason for doing that, it wasn't a strange enough attack to catch him off guard. He spun, catching the edge with his Aura and flinging it back.

Pyrrha hopped up to avoid the blow and used it as a platform for a tremendous leap.

Ren dropped from his stance, bringing one hand back. He grit his teeth and _activated the Dust stored in his sleeve._

 _Red and white bands of raw power ran up his arm, searing his skin and his soul._ He sank into his knees, ready for her charge.

Pyrrha had reach, but no way to stop herself. Her eyes widened as she came in, several of the students watching gasping. It was dangerous, but Professor Goodwitch hadn't called the fight.

He weaved to the side of her thrust, catching the haft of her spear between his elbow and forearm. With her weapon bound, he struck with all of his might. The fangs of Mistral closed in on Pyrrha's stomach, where her armor was thickest.

She kicked his arm up with speed that she didn't have last semester. The energy of his attack dissipated in the air above her. His follow up, a knee to the back which she shouldn't be able to see, was caught by her free hand.

With a smooth motion, she rotated around his arm and swept his legs from under him. A flurry of sword blows struck before he landed, his Aura dropped into red with the first and fell from there with each additional hit.

Ren raised his hands. "I yield."

Pyrrha stopped a thrust, chest heaving with how deeply she was breathing.

The crowd of students erupted into applause.

"Woo, go Ren!" Nora cheered from team JNPR's bench. "And Pyrrha!"

After a moment of looking around, Pyrrha offered a hand up. He'd brought her Aura down to fifty-six percent, the best anyone fared so far. She was tearing her way through not only Beacon's class, but the other schools as well.

"I'm sorry about the end." Pyrrha couldn't meet his eyes. "I went a little overboard at the end."

Ren shook his head. "I did as well."

"Indeed." Professor Goodwitch stepped into the center of the stage. "While your ascension to Mistral's peak of the Four Kingdoms Style is commendable, Aura-breaching techniques are grounds for disqualification in the tournament."

"I understand." He bowed his head despite the dull ache he felt.

"As is striking an opponent after they've already been eliminated, Miss Nikos."

"I'm sorry." Pyrrha joined him in bowing.

"Now then, let's give some of the other students a chance to fight." She dismissed them with a nod.

As they walked back to their bench, Ran whispered. "Are you alright?."

"I'm…" Pyrrha paused and looked at the crowd. She turned slightly, walking into the hallway leading to the arena instead of their team's bench. He followed her to a small room off on the side which was filled with Professor Goodwitch's combat training aids.

"I don't know." She leaned against a table full of practice dummies. "May I ask you something that might be a bit painful to think about?"

"Of course." Ren closed the door behind him.

"When you fought the Anathema, how did you realize what she was and break away from her? What did it feel like?"

Ren closed his eyes, tensing up as the memory of who he had been. "What do you mean?"

"In the moment when you broke free… what were you thinking about?"

He could see her in front of him, telling him that they needed to kill everyone else. His pulse raced and his hands balled into fists. "I knew that what she said to do was wrong and..."

The words had echoed in his head, forcing his hands to move on their own… no, making him want to move them for her. But, a spark deep within his soul kept them still. That wasn't what he learned to fight for. Even if she was the one who taught him, the Anathema was telling him to do something that went against her own teachings. "And that… it wasn't something that a leader who really cared about people would say."

"This was about killing people?"

"Yes."

"What if… what if she just didn't care?" Pyrrha grabbed one wrist with her other hand, closing herself off. "What if, instead of telling you to kill someone you knew you shouldn't, she said that it wasn't your job to save them from danger?"

"I'm… not sure." Ren clenched his fists, digging his thumb nail into his index finger. "I want to say that I would, but I don't know. If she asked me to watch people die… then probably. What brought this on?"

Pyrrha couldn't look at him. "Do you remember last semester, the night when Ruby... attacked?"

"How could I not?"

"I was in the forest right before it happened, watching her."

He nodded. "When your goddess appeared?"

Pyrrha flinched. "Yes."

Ren waited for her.

"I wasn't clear about what she said before because it was… not something I really wanted to think about at the time." Pyrrha continue with as much pain as Ren had ever heard, "She said that the gods would not save us because they were no longer responsible for the affairs of the mortal world; instead, the Anathema are."

"What?"

"I know." Pyrrha met his eyes. "How could they just, abandon us like that? Leave us to the Grimm and-"

"No." Ren shouted. "Not that."

"What do... " Pyrrha gasped. "Oh… the An-"

"Anathema." Ren cut her off. "What do you mean they're responsible?"

"Lady Mars told Ruby that the Anathema were given the mortal world to rule over by the gods. She said that they created the Grimm-"

A shiver ran down his spine.

"-and that they could also destroy them."

"Also destroy…" Ren clenched his teeth and shook his head. "Pyrrha, did Ruby tell you this?"

"No, it was Lady Mars."

"Was Ruby there when you heard it?"

"Yes."

"Then you can't trust it."

Pyrrha's eyes went wide as she took a step toward him. "What are you talking about?"

"The idea that the Anathema can destroy the Grimm is a lie that I fell for once." Ren stepped closer as well. "I won't let you be deceived like we were."

"But, Lady Mars-"

"Who says that was even her? There's no proof that any gods exist."

"I felt it." Pyrrha's voice had an edge he'd never heard from her before. "I felt it in my heart and in my soul; it was her."

"How do you know you remember it right? Ruby made everyone forget her, even if some of us could break through. She could just as easily change what you remember."

"That's not-" Pyrrha looked away, clenching a fist. "That's not important right now. What matters is that the gods aren't going to help anyone. They've… abandoned us."

"Pyrrha, you can't trust that your memory is accurate. This is what the Anathema do to ensnare you."

Pyrrha went quiet. The only thing he could hear was the clash of metal on metal from the sparring ring.

"If… if you assume the the first part was correct. That the gods have abandoned us, whether or not the parts about the Anathema are true… what would you do?"

"I…" Faith may not have been important to either him or Nora, but it was for Pyrrha. If Ruby, or any other Anathema for that matter, was using it against her, then he needed to bring her back however he could. "I think you should still believe."

"But… How could someone just ignore the pain of millions that they could save? What sort of example is that? How could that be deserving of any adoration, let alone worship?"

Ren didn't know too much about any of the gods besides the Sun. "Isn't Mars already the goddess of conflict and war? Wars always harm a lot of people."

"That's-"

"It's not different. If she's supposed to make wars happen, then not interfering in the mortal world could also be the same." He cut her off. "Just like how the other kingdoms didn't step in to help Vale until they were asked to."

Pyrrha crossed her arms. "I suppose you're right about that, even if it doesn't feel correct."

Ren nodded. "Is there anything else?"

Pyrrha looked at him, lips tightening. After another long pause, she gulped. "If… If there was something you could do to fight… against the Anathema on a more even footing… what would you give up for it?"

The way she'd hesitated made a sense of dread rise from his belly. "Pyrrha, I don't know what you're thinking, but it isn't worth it."

"Nora is going to have to give up a part of herself to learn sorcery."

Ren flinched. "I don't like that she's going to do that, but it's still her wants to learn how to protect us from something that we have no defense against."

"It's still a sacrifice."

"It's a sacrifice that she's choosing and…" Ren looked at her face, but she averted her gaze. "And from everything you've said so far, it doesn't sound like this is one that you want. Whatever this is, it's something that you think you might need to do despite not wanting to."

"You might be right, but that doesn't mean I don't need to become better."

"You're already the best in our year and can fight better than most of the seniors!" He shouted. "If you said you were dropping out to become a Huntress right now, I wouldn't worry about your safety."

"I may be the best freshman." Pyrrha's eyes met his. They were the same as his own from so many years ago, when he and Nora were the only ones left of their village. "But is that enough for what might be coming? For what we might have to fight?"

* * *

What would be enough?

Pyrrha looked to the skylight and found the constellation of the Spear shining overhead. It was her birth sign and foretold what her future would be. Discipline, skill, and professionalism: they would be her weapons, her tools for making life better for everyone around her. It was her Destiny, no matter what she decided about the gods.

She ran her thumb up Miló's shaft, moving from the base to the spear point. As she slid back down, she let out a breath, and moved.

One, two, three swings and a twirl. She launched herself forward with her Semblance by grabbing her boots. With each step, she sped up, using her spiritual senses over her normal ones. The tip of her spear, the metal of her armor, and the ever shifting magnetic fields surrounding her.

With the right amount of focus, she _could_ feel all of them at once, react to any movement as if she were touching it. She needed that focus, to be able to control the battlefield and keep her allies safe.

The slow bob of a sword approached from the hallway. Pyrrha opened her eyes, smiling at Weiss. "Hello."

Weiss matched the smile, closing the door behind her and locking it. "Good evening. Are you ready?"

Pyrrha tightened her grip. "I was hoping that we could spar before moving to meditation."

"You didn't get enough earlier?" Weiss chuckled, tapping the pommel of her sword.

"None of them compare."

Even though Weiss' talents weren't based in combat, and she needed to be protected to cast her spells, she was still the best at Beacon who Pyrrha could practice with.

"Well, how can I say no after that?" Weiss drew her sword, walking to the side of the circle in the floor.

Pyrrha called her shield over and took her own position. "Normal rules?"

"Yes." Weiss raised her blade. "Begin."

Tiles cracked as Pyrrha launched herself forward, closing as quickly as she could. She soared over Weiss' first glyph before it finished forming, but her opponent stepped away from the first blow.

She spun herself with her Semblance, throwing another faster than her body would've been able to move without the added force. It caught Weiss' shoulder and sent her spiraling to the floor. She should've dodged that.

Again, Pyrrha launched herself, but Weiss was ready this time.

And so their game began again. As they danced, each trying to force the other into her own best range, Weiss slowly surrounded the field with glyphs. With quick gestures, she fired ice shards at Pyrrha's blind spots between their clashes of steel.

No single shard could win the fight, but the small blows would add up. It was also a technique that a normal Huntress would not have been able to avoid.

 _Pyrrha took a deep breath and felt for the disturbances around her._ There were small fluctuations, almost imperceptible. With her mind expanded, Pyrrha slipped around the shards. She stepped in for another clash and-

Weiss' rapier smashed into her neck.

Pyrrha parried the second thrust with her Semblance, letting go of her weapon and stepping in while she was shot by several shards

Unlike Weiss, she couldn't focus on two things at once.

Another blow struck the side of Pyrrha's head, but it wasn't enough to keep her from grabbing Weiss' wrist. She pulled the girl in, forcing the point of her rapier past Pyrrha's body.

Weiss hesitated for a moment, then yanked her hand back. She wasn't strong enough.

Pyrrha punched, the edge of her shield narrowly missing Weiss. She yanked it back with her Semblance, again missing by less than an inch.

Pyrrha threw her body and Semblance behind the third blow, almost wrenching her own shoulder with the speed, but it hit. Weiss flew backwards, her weapon landing behind Pyrrha.

Pyrrha kept her grip firm, flipping over Weiss. She spun herself faster, landing on her feet and slamming her opponent into the ground.

Close combat was where Weiss was the weakest. Pyrrha could have continued hitting her until it was her win. Instead, she let her go and stood up.

"Fight me seriously." She called both of their weapons over, letting Weiss' sword land in her lap.

"I am."

"No, you are not." Pyrrha checked her Aura; she had slightly more than sixty percent remaining. "You should not have been grabbed and you keep hesitating."

Weiss staggered to her feet. "I need to keep myself under control."

Pyrrha took a deep breath, forcing her pounding heart to calm. "You should listen to your reflexes and instincts."

"If this fire is what I think it is, then it's dangerous and not useful. I'd reveal myself if anyone saw it."

"I already know and better to have a dangerous technique in case you need it than be left without one."

Weiss held her blade to the side, unready. "Pyrrha, what is this about?"

Pyrrha took a deep breath. "I want you to fight me at your best. No holding back."

"Very well." Weiss closed her eyes. "Can you close the skylight?"

Pyrrha forced the shutters closed. The room had no windows and only one door, which was locked. The regular lights were dull, but more than enough to fight with.

Weiss' entire body tensed, her breathing growing heavy. _Her muscles bulged out, shifting underneath her greying skin. Her arms and legs lengthened, turning the small girl into a beastly woman who towered above Pyrrha. Her dress, which by all logic should have torn, merged with her skin to form a grey-white skirt flaring smoothly from her waist. Her new body was covered in lines of Moonsilver, exactly where they had been in Weiss' dress._

Weiss opened her eyes to reveal pits of utter darkness and smiled. Her teeth were like razors.

"Are you ready?" She growled, _the tone enough to send a shiver down Pyrrha's spine._

Pyrrha grit her teeth and _forced her way past the terror of fighting back against such a monster._ While her hands and muscles still trembled, Pyrrha still raised her shield and slammed the flat of her blade on it.

Their second duel began like the first, but that was the only similarity.

Rather than leap away from Pyrrha's charge, Weiss shifted her position very slightly. Pyrrha passed within a hair's breath and was met by a thrust to the gut for her trouble.

Where Weiss normally would have pulled back, instead she stepped in, sword striking again as Pyrrha's feet hit the ground.

The tip of her rapier smashed into Pyrrha's shield with a force similar to Ruby's scythe, throwing it to the side.

Pyrrha flung her shield away and shifted Miló to spear form. She stepped back, taking full advantage of the extra reach. It barely kept her on her feet.

Weiss advanced relentlessly, flowing smoothly from attack to attack with an inhuman grace. Every counter thrust of Pyrrha's was parried then immediately riposted. Despite how much heavier her spear and the force that holding it with both hands allowed, the dainty looking rapier forced it away again and again through Weiss' masterful control of her leverage,

Pyrrha continued her offense with her shield, striking at Weiss' back. At the last moment, her foe spun to the side, throwing another heavy thrust without a single wasted movement.

No matter the angle, no matter how much she used her semblance to accelerate her strikes, nothing Pyrrha did worked.

All without Weiss using any of her Glyphs.

After a reckless attack that left Pyrrha completely off balance, Weiss spun away.

"What?" Pyrrha gasped, that should have been a fight ending mistake.

Weiss said a single word in the language of Sorcery. Her fingers glowed with a grey light as they drew runes in the air.

Pyrrha flung herself forward again, using her Semblance to make up for her lack of footing. She swung with all of her might, forgoing any attempt at protecting herself. For nearly six seconds, she flew around Weiss as if she had wings, striking with each limb in turn. Spear thrust, kick, shield slam, knee: Nothing connected.

Despite Weiss putting herself in the most dangerous position someone could, casting an expensive spell within the reach of an opponent, she was still untouchable.

The grey energy expanded into a cloud, then shrunk into hundreds of icicles. They surrounded Pyrrha, points glinting in the light.

Pyrrha set herself onto the ground. "Do it."

Weiss met her gaze and nodded.

As the shard fell upon her, Pyrrha grabbed her weapons with her Semblance once more. She turned into a whirlwind of metal, smashing as many of them as she could.

Again, it wasn't enough.

Seconds after the attack started, her Aura fell and two pierced her skin. Weiss fired the rest in a circle around her.

Pyrrha fell to her knees, her hands balled into fists.

"You made me dip too deep at the end." Weiss' voice had returned to normal. "It was your win."

"Thank you." The words were like ash in her mouth, rules were for tournaments.

Weiss could decisively defeat her in melee now. She also didn't need anyone to protect her while she worked her spells.

"If you refine your flight technique, I'm certain that you'll become even more fearsome in battle." Weiss smiled. "And even outside of it, I'm still very happy that you're here with me."

Pyrrha nodded, pulling herself up. It was a nice idea, but she would not be able to focus on it, protecting herself, and attacking at the same time.

"You're the one who convinced me to reach beyond what I was comfortable with." Weiss grabbed her wrist. "I think that there may be a way to call upon that power without being so obvious. It will take time and… practice, but we can work on them together and make this even better."

"Of course." Pyrrha couldn't keep the emptiness out of her tone.

Weiss frowned at her, but didn't say any more.

"I… I don't think I'm in the right state of mind to meditate tonight."

"I understand." Weiss nodded, leading the way to the door.

Coco was waiting for them outside.

"Not sure what you two were doing in there, but it sounded impressive." The older girl grinned.

Pyrrha nodded. "Weiss figured out something useful."

"Pyrrha did as well," Weiss said.

Coco looked between them and hissed as she took a breath. "Right. I also found two more potentials who want to talk to you soon."

"How soon?" Weiss asked.

"Tomorrow."

"I would prefer having _both_ of you present."

"I'll be there when you need me." Pyrrha began walking away.

Neither of them stopped her, or said anything else.

When she was almost out of earshot, Coco started asking, "Is she-"

Pyrrha walked faster, pushing all other thoughts away.

Coco had found two more people to join then while Pyrrha hadn't even gotten one herself. Emerald found Nora first. She'd merely happening upon them at breakfast.

Pyrrha looked out the hallway window at sky and The Spear.

What use was faith in gods who did not care and would not help? It was one thing to believe that they were busy, like everyone else thought, and another to know that they were silent because they gave the responsibility to other people and when that group failed, didn't help.

"Oh man, you're gonna destroy me." Jaune's voice echoed from one of the rooms.

Pyrrha crept up to the door peering in. Jaune and his girlfriend were playing a board game. It had been months since they did that as a team.

For a few minutes, she stood next to it and listened. It sounded so nice, so relaxing. It was… something that 'The Invincible Girl' would never have.

What use was skill so great that it separated you from normal life, but so weak that it couldn't help those you needed it for?

All of Remnant had its divinely ordained protectors in team RWBY... With such champions, what use was one girl whose only meaningful contribution was fighting?


	21. Chapter 3-5

Weiss sat at a cold, metal table with Pyrrha at her side, sizing up the boys flanking Coco.

The first was a very fit monkey Faunus who didn't seem to understand how buttons worked. He also seemed to be impervious to the cold. The gazebo on the edge of campus was chilly enough that she wanted a jacket, but that was the price to pay for good sightlines to anyone approaching.

"Weiss Schnee," Coco gestured to him. "Sun Wukong."

He flipped a chair around, sitting on it backwards. After a moment, he held out a hand. "Hey."

Weiss placed her cup down and shook it. "A pleasure to meet you."

"Ladies." The second, better dressed, boy smiled and snapped his fingers, pointing at her

"Dude." Sun elbowed him in the side.

Weiss raised a hand to cover her mouth and laughed. It was just like when Yang started hitting on her and Blake.

Coco raised an eyebrow as she met Weiss' eyes, but didn't otherwise react. "And Neptune Vasilias."

"Charmed." Weiss waved to the seats. "I was told that the two of you wanted to speak with me."

Neptune took a seat like a normal person. "Yeah, we have a lot of questions and you're probably the only person who could answer them."

She waved her hand in a circle.

They boys looked at each other.

Sun spoke first, "So, your team."

"Yes?" There were a number of ways that this could go.

"Is Blake Belladonna a Faunus?"

That was not at all what Weiss had expected, but also wasn't something she needed to be dishonest about. "Yes, she is."

"And, she's also actually Anathema, not someone who just got called that because people think that she wasn't, then suddenly became one?"

"Yes, she is." Weiss raised an eyebrow. "Why would you want to know something like that?"

"Well, sometimes people don't notice that someone is a Faunus and then when they suddenly realize that, the person gets accused of being Anathema."

"Did that happen to you?"

"Yep." He nodded. "I was almost run out of town when I discovered my Semblance. A bunch of idiots didn't realize that my 'fuzzy belt' was my really tail and freaked because I 'suddenly turned into a Faunus'."

"Which is ridiculous. Your Semblance is pure gold, not silver." Neptune shook his head.

"It's terrible that happened to you, but it wasn't the case with Blake." Weiss smiled at Sun slightly. "Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

Sun nodded to Neptune this time.

"Yeah..." Neptune looked around, all of the way over his shoulder, then whispered, "The Girl in Red."

"Why would you want to know about her?" Weiss met his eyes.

"Well, I mean, who wouldn't want to know about her?" He tried to hold her gaze, but had to look away after a few seconds. "She's probably the most famous person alive right now, for, er, a lot of different reasons."

"What do you want to know?"

"Well, who she was and the sorts of things that she thought about."

"I see." Weiss looked at Pyrrha.

Pyrrha snapped to attention after a moment, then closed her eyes. After two deep breaths, she nodded.

"Well, I suppose the first thing that you should know is that her name is Ruby and she was my partner. She was incredibly talented." Weiss _focused. 'She had a lot of interesting opinions that others might share.'_

"Umm…" Neptune glanced at each of them. "A-Anyway, she said some pretty out there things about the Anathema."

Weiss nodded, looking over his shoulder as most of Emerald's team came into view. They were only missing Cinder.

"Were you curious about any of them in particular?" Weiss met Emerald's eyes. The girl immediately perked up and started walking toward her. A shake of Weiss' head stopped her. Though, the motion also made the others look at Emerald. "Nothing to worry about, just letting a friend know we're busy."

"Sure... friend." Coco smirked.

"Moving on." Weiss gave her a look. "Yes, Ruby said a lot about the Anathema." ' _All of which is true.'_

Both boys' eyes widened.

"Which she claims was directly told to her by a goddess."

"So, uhh, umm." Sun stammered, almost tipping his chair over. "That means the Anathema really are blessed by the gods?"

Weiss nodded.

Neptune slowly sucked in a breath. "I… I see…"

Weiss folded her hands in her lap. "Have you encountered any before?"

"Well, I don't _think_ I have." Sun awkwardly grinned. He kept glancing between each of them, but his eyes lingered on Weiss the longest.

Neptune took a deep breath. "I did when I was eight."

Pyrrha perked up again.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Weiss asked softly.

"There's not that much to talk about." He tried to shrug, but the motion was too forced. "I was sailing with some family friends. We ran into a huge Sea Dragon. I almost drowned and was saved by a... person with a Silver Aura. Then, once we were back on dry land I was forced to watch a group of Hunters kill it… him."

"That's horrible." Pyrrha gasped.

"I… got over it." Neptune couldn't look at any of them.

Weiss tapped her fingers against each other. The potential was there. However, she didn't know whether or not it was worth anything. "You two are from Haven Academy, aren't you?"

"Yep, we're the best freshman team." Sun grinned.

"Best?" Coco asked.

"We have more fans than anyone else." Neptune smiled, teeth practically glinting in the light.

"Do you know Cinder Fall or Emerald Sustrai well?"

"I wouldn't say well, they're both kinda loners… Actually, that whole team is." He shrugged. "Why?"

"I've been speaking to Emerald more and have some concerns about Cinder."

He nodded.

"How would you describe her?"

"Well, she's cold, strong… terrifying..." Sun gulped. "Also, sort of insightful. When I was wondering whether or not I should talk to you, she gave me some good advice."

"I see," Weiss nodded. "What about how she and Emerald interac- One moment."

Penny Polendina was coming straight towards them.

Weiss waited for her to arrive.

"Salutations, Weiss Schnee." Penny waved.

"Hello, Penny. Can I help you?"

"I believe you can." Penny was as chipper as possible. "I'm missing thirteen point seven seconds of memories from when we last spoke and Ruby said I should talk to you about it."

Weiss resisted the urge to sigh. "I'm not sure what you mean. How could you have forgotten something like that?"

"I do not know, but she was certain that you would."

"Wait a second." Neptune held a finger up. "You've talked to Ruby, as in the Girl in Red?"

"Yes." Penny nodded. "She and Blake Belladonna answered when I called them."

"And they couldn't help you with this?"

Weiss could practically see the gears turning in his head. She could simply erase their memory of whatever happened next, but that hardly seemed like it would help.

"They said that Blake might be able to write me something to help me remember."

"Team Anathema thought that they _might_ be able to help you with..." Sun slowly turned back to Weiss.

Weiss slowly stood up. "All of you are going to be quiet and follow me right now."

"Bu-" Penny began speaking.

 _Weiss unleashed every ounce of terror that she was capable of producing._ Penny froze, Neptune shivered, and Sun became as pale as his teammate. "Now."

They followed behind her dutifully, as did Coco and Pyrrha. The other girls couldn't meet her eyes either, even though they should have been more used to such feelings after practicing. The edge of the cliff was very close to the gazebo. When Weiss nodded, all five of the others jumped off.

She spared a glance behind herself, confirming that no one else was following them, before descending. As she fell, Weiss used a glyph to propel herself slightly forward, leaving everyone else's backs against the cliff wall.

"Now then, shall we continue?" Weiss released her hold on them with a snap.

"Holy shit!" Sun swore.

"Hehe," Neptune laughed, teeth chattering.

Penny just stared at her, body completely frozen.

"That might not have been the best idea, Schnee." Coco stepped forward, turning around when she passed Weiss. Pyrrha remained where she landed, staring up.

"I think it punctuated the severity of the situation." Weiss looked at each of them in turn. "Needless to say, anything that was just said, or thought, leaking would be disastrous for everyone involved."

Pyrrha joined them, leaning close to Weiss, but speaking loud enough for the others to hear. "I believe there's a camera on the cliff, maybe a microphone too."

"I see." Weiss added it to the ever growing list of things she needed to speak with Ozpin about, but that would be a conversation for another day. "Can you destroy it?"

Pyrrha nodded. "It's done."

"Thank you." Weiss smiled, then turned back to the other three.

Penny still hadn't taken a breath since she landed.

"As I was saying, anything leaking is dangerous… Especially for those of us who have recording devices on them." Weiss looked at her.

"I do not have-" Penny shouted. "Oh, wait, I do."

"Delete whatever you have so far."

"I'm not deleting my own memories!" She covered her mouth with her hands as soon as she spoke.

Weiss narrowed her eyes and _listened intently._ The dual microphones were still present, but she couldn't hear any normal bodily function coming from Penny. Everyone else turned toward her as well.

"I- I mean-" Penny stammered.

"We all heard what you said." Weiss cut her off. "What exactly do you mean by deleting your memories?"

"I… Ummm… It's classified?" Penny smiled nervously.

"Which level?"

"Top Secret."

"Anything else?" That much wasn't a problem.

Penny's eyes widened. "Uhh, SAR-CR."

That might be trickier. She hadn't heard of a CR program code before.

"Very well." Weiss relaxed.

"You're just going to accept that? She didn't say anything." Sun gaped at her.

"Considering the number of people without access to Top Secret information here, yes."

"Okay." Neptune stepped forward, patting Sun on the shoulder. "So, what do we do now?"

"Now, you three are going to help me help Ruby." Weiss smiled.

"With what?" Neptune winced.

"Eliminating the Grimm."

"All of them?" Penny gasped.

"All of them." Weiss nodded.

"You can do that?" Sun asked.

"No." Weiss looked at Pyrrha. "But, the goddess Mars told Ruby that if she were to lead her team against them, it would be possible. Right, Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha had been looking at the cliff, delaying her response. "Yes."

"I… I can't believe it." Neptune shook his head. "Killing all of the Grimm with just four Anathema? No way."

Weiss held a hand out to the forest. "Do you remember the report about the Grimm in Vale being depopulated?"

The three of them nodded.

"That was Mars, demonstrating just how powerful the Anathema can become. She did it in seconds."

Sun whistled.

"I can show you where they appeared, if you want."

Sun and Neptune glanced at each other before nodding.

"Penny?"

"I…" Penny looked back up the cliff. "Ciel will be angry if I'm not back soon. We had a meeting to go to."

"I'm sure General Ironwood will understand." Weiss waved a hand to the side.

"How did you-" Penny cut herself off. "Oh, right."

 _Weiss grasped their sympathetic ties with those they cared about. With a hidden pulse of Essence, she bound herself into them, just like Emerald._ As soon as she finished, each relaxed and smiled.

"Let's go." She began leading the way with Coco and Pyrrha.

"That was easier than expected." Coco whispered.

"They all were, at least partially, aware of some of the lies." Weiss _added another statement, only to Coco and Pyrrha. 'I also used my power to strengthen the loyalty, just in case.'_

Coco nodded.

Pyrrha frowned, but didn't say anything.

* * *

Blake slightly shifted her balance, leaning into Yang's turn and pressing her back against Ruby's. She was sitting on the very back end of Yang's bike both hands engrossed with her book. It would have been impossible to sit there, let alone read, _but the lip right above the rear wheel was like a solid floor to her._

The book was pure schlock; the main character had the personality of cardboard and her love interest was a deep as a puddle, but they didn't need to be three-dimensional for their dumb spats to be entertaining.

She chuckled, looking over her shoulder as she slid her bookmark in. The sun was setting and while she could read in the dark, she'd had enough of lover boy's 'aventurine orbs which held a barely concealed spark of passion' for one day.

Ruby turned around too. "Blake?"

"Sorry, it's not you." She lied; Ruby's position was also funny. She was scrunched down so she could fit her arms under Yang's wings. If just the two of them were that bad, then all three must be a sight to see. "My book is… a bit silly."

Ruby stared at her for a moment. "Okay."

"How much longer do we have?"

"Hmm…" Ruby looked forwards again. "We're pretty close. If we really want to, we can probably get there by midnight."

Blake rolled her shoulders. "Will there be beds?"

"The town has an inn with beds."

"That doesn't sound like a recommendation."

"It really isn't."

Blake sighed, "Great. What'd you think Yang? Are you up for a few more hours?"

Yang revved the engine, glancing at Blake "You know I could go all night."

"Missed her that much?" Ruby asked patting Bumblebee's seat.

Blake turned away and held her mouth as tightly shut as she could.

"You have no idea." She served back and forth, "Ahh, you treated her good, sis."

Ruby giggled.

Blake slipped her book into her bag and turned around, looking over Ruby's shoulder. She peered down the road ahead and then glanced up. The sky was overcast with long streams of orange in the clouds, but…

Blake blinked a couple of times and then _focused on the sight ahead of her. She could clearly make out individual leaves from miles away, along with the dark clouds._ "Ruby, do you see that?"

"See what?" Ruby shifted, leaning forward. "Oh…"

"What'd you two-" Yang gunned the engine as everything around them changed.

A shiver ran down Blake's spine. It was like she'd been breathing in a smoke filled room for her entire life and it finally cleared. Everything around her felt more right, like she belonged. She took two deep breaths, the air was damp, sort of like a swamp, but even so, it tasted sweet.

Though, the rest of their surroundings weren't anywhere near as good. The trees surrounding them had looked like they were about to reach down and snatch anyone passing by, their branches knotty and their bark greyed, like they were dead. The brilliant orange in the clouds had become an almost sickly purple.

"What the hell is this?" Yang shouted almost throwing Ruby from the bike with a sudden stop.

"Oh, yeah…" Ruby whispered. "It really doesn't feel good around here."

Blake gulped and looked at her teammates. Both of them were shivering. "I, umm… It feels really good to me."

"How could it-" Yang gaped at her, then snapped her head to the side and shouted. "Shut up!"

"What?" Ruby flinched back.

"Not you." Yang rubbed her temples. "The demon's freaking out and won't stop yelling."

Ruby winced. "Gotcha. Blake liking it makes sense since Petra also liked it and they're the same type of Anathema."

"Yang, do you want to go back?" Blake laid a hand on her shoulder and rubbed softly.

"I'll be fine as soon as it stops," Yang said through clenched teeth. "What were the two of you looking at before?"

Blake turned her eyes to the sky. It was faint, but the rising black smoke was unmistakable. "There's something burning far ahead of us. Or, maybe there was something burning and now we're seeing the remains smoke... I'm not sure."

"Got it." Yang had her eyes closed. "Yelling more isn't going to help. I'm going in there no matter how much it scares you."

"Yang?" Ruby grabbed her hand. "Are you sure you're fine?"

Yang took a deep breath. "I think it just needs to calm down and I need to get used to this."

"Okay, let's just make camp then. We can-" Ruby hissed, sitting straight up. "Or there's something bad coming our way."

"Seeing the future?" Blake looked down the road again.

"Yeah, I don't know what it is, but it'll be here soon." Ruby hopped off of the bike and walked to the edge of the road. "Counter-ambush?"

Blake and Yang nodded, setting themselves up.

"I'll be next to the road." Ruby vanished from sight.

' _Can you still hear me?'_ Blake sent thoughts to both of them.

' _Yep.'_ Ruby sent back, though Blake still couldn't make out where she was.

' _Let me know when to charge in.'_ Yang was far back, hidden in the bushes with her bike.

Blake _slipped into the shadows on the side of the road._

They waited several minutes for lights to appear from the way they came, a lot of lights. When they first showed up, Blake could make out four distinct sets. As the trucks and vans got closer, she realized there were seven, all maintaining speed very close together.

' _Ruby, is Crescent Rose powerful enough to take out the leader?'_ Blake shifted to the other side of the road. She'd have trouble punching through that much metal, but once the driver's got out, she would have a perfect opportunity.

' _I can do windshield and tires, but the armor's too thick for me to shoot the engine out.'_ Ruby thought back. ' _Actually, wait a minute… From the model of truck, armor, and how they're driving… That's an Atlas convoy.'_

'It wouldn't be the first time we had to mess them up,' Yang said.

'What do you think they're here for?' Ruby asked.

'Probably hunting us.' Blake kept the lead truck in sight. 'Also, isn't there another Anathema where we're going?'

'Yeah…'

Yang said. 'What does your future thing say?'

Ruby waited for a moment. 'It's better to hit them now, but it's not terrible if we don't.'

'I say we let them go past then.' Blake let herself relax a little. 'We've never attacked first.'

'I… Alright.'

'You'd be able to see something awful if the other Anathema died, wouldn't you?'

'Probably, but… It's still better to go now. All three of us will wind up happier if we do.'

'Sorry, sis. I'm with Blake. Even if it might wind up being better, that doesn't mean we should do it.'

'Fine.' Ruby grumbled.

Blake relaxed and sat down, watching each of the vehicles rush past them. They'd have kept pace with Yang's speed at the rate they were going.

"I hope you two're right about this." Ruby reappeared about Blake after they passed.

Blake turned to the tail lights disappearing into the forest. It was the right thing to do, even if it wasn't the best idea according the Ruby.

'Hey, sis? This place is even more wrong than we thought,' Yang said slowly.

'Why?' Ruby started heading back toward her.

'It's made the Grimm weird. Sort of… like the opposite of how they normally are.'

'What?'

'A Nevermore flew past me just now. It was pure white with blue eyes and veins.' Yang continued. 'Still died like a normal one though.'

An inverted Grimm for an inverted place? Blake felt at home here, but it was terrible for the others. What about her made that the case? Was she somehow like those Grimm?

* * *

Weiss checked the clock on the side of the ritual chamber. It was five minutes to midnight and they were coming up on the moment of truth.

She fed more Essence into the circle in front of her, making the runes flare with power. They were the same green as Yang's true Aura with a bit of silver mixed in. There was no point in expending extra effort to disguise it at the moment.

"It's brighter than when I attempted the spell," Professor Goodwitch said from the far corner, writing notes into her scroll. "The color balance has also shifted, but it is within expectations."

"Yours were green with purple exteriors?" Weiss pushed slightly harder, making the silver more prominent. The flames within the runes were compressed, glowing even brighter as the silver barrier formed.

"No, they were entirely green." Professor Goodwitch stepped in and took a picture. "Also, more uncontrolled. Could your nature be modifying the spell in some way?"

"I can't see any reason why it would." The ritual had been very straightforward regarding how it functioned. "What did you use as a control agent?"

"Three parts Earth Dust, three parts Water, and one part Gravity."

"Stability, flexibility, and binding." Weiss focused on her other research, maintaining the energy flows without needing conscious thought. "I would have done similar if I couldn't brute force it. Though, why three parts Water? That may have overwhelmed the Earth."

"It counteracted the secondary ring of Fire Dust that Miss Rose recommended. The initial attempt had only two parts." She gestured to the ring of Fire Dust. "I'll ignite it as soon as the spell finishes."

"Hopefully, we won't need that." Weiss had looked through every record of a 'successful' cast that Beacon had, along with those of Atlas Academy too. A surprisingly large number of Sorcerers had tried to fix the spell before. While none of them managed to keep a demon alive for more than several minutes, a few claimed to summon beings capable of meaningful communication.

Resilience, knowledge, and sociability: calling a being with those traits was the core intent of her spell. She kept each of the three in mind as the final minutes wound down.

At the stroke of midnight, a line of green fire appeared in the center of her array. Its edges pulsed with flames, widening as if an invisible giant was grabbing the fabric of reality and pulling it apart.

When the rift was a wide as her shoulders, a pair of glowing eyes appeared within the fire. Slowly, surely, the creature plodded forward. As is got closer, Weiss felt a terrible pressure on her soul.

She grit her teeth and pressed back against it. Silver light flared from the summoning circle as a stone paw emerged. The glowing eyes met her own as its own will assaulted her. By the the face of the gigantic lion appeared, the runes were so bright that Professor Goodwitch had to look away.

Again and again the two smashed against each other, Weiss growling between her teeth, When the clock ticked to twelve-o-one, a final flash of silver erupted and it bowed.

"For what purpose have we been called." The lion spoke in the language of Sorcery, somehow completely intelligible.

"To teach us lost knowledge," Weiss said slowly, the language wasn't meant for conversation. Or, the version she knew wasn't.

"What do you wish to know?" It stood up, looking more smug than a cat should be able to. "And, ask quickly, less this form be destroyed by humanity's folly before I can provide an answer."

"By what?"

A number of small scratches appeared on its face. "By the corrupted creations of a traitor, turned from their purpose of maintaining the natural order."


	22. Chapter 3-6

Weiss watched the scratches slowly appear on the stone lion's face. "What do you mean by that? What creations?"

"The creatures are the results of a Second Circle spell created millennia ago." The lion swatted his paw, as if he was swiping at a large bug.

"Was the spell made right before a… revolution... against the Solars?" Professor Goodwitch stepped up to the outside of the burning circle, speaking very slowly.

"Considering your native tongue, I suspect you mean fight, not circle around." The lion raised an eyebrow.

"That is correct."

"Then yes." The lion nodded.

Weiss glanced at the professor. How did she know about that? Weiss had only found that piece of information out thanks to Tialeth. "How do you know about our language?"

"A Teodozji has visited this land before. As such, we all know of the dialect that you speak."

"Teodozji, that is what you are?"

"Yes."

"I see." If the lion had the ability to share knowledge with its own kind, then summoning another in the future may be necessary. When Weiss noticed a small chunk of stone fall from it, she quickly continued. "Moving back to our original topci. If the things harming you were created from this spell, could we repurpose it to eliminate them?"

Professor Goodwitch raised an eyebrow, lips twitching as she mouthed out the words.

The lion waited, tail also swatting at something while his sides were scratched. "It may be possible for one of the Unquestionable, but such feats are beyond your power."

"What are the 'Unquestionable'?"

"They are the greatest of demons, Princes and Princesses of Malfeas whose grasp reaches beyond the wildest imaginations of your kind."

Assuming the demon was even partially telling the truth, Weiss doubted that meeting one would be wise. "I see, so there are more powerful demons which can be summoned."

The lion laughed loud and deep. "You could never hope to call upon such might. It is as beyond you as cleansing the filth layered upon your world."

"Do not lie to me, demon." Weiss glared at it. "I have good word that cleansing Remnant of the Grimm is entirely possible for a single Exalt."

"On whose word?"

"The goddess Mars."

The lion glared at her, the runes etching into his skin blazed with light, and he growled, "The words of a deceiver and traitor are of no worth."

"Traitor? What did she do?"

"She is one of many who betrayed the creators and true rulers of all Creation, sending it on the path of ruin that you stand upon."

"Let us leave that aside for now. " Weiss kept her expression neutral. "You believe that my goal is hopeless. I disagree and will try to do so anyway. What information can you give me which will make me more likely to succeed?"

"If you wish to pursue such hopelessness, then sorcery would provide the most aid." It slammed a paw to the floor, where it hovered in the air despite the lion's weight shifting to above it, only continuing after tearing something off of the invisible object with its teeth. "While you can never reach its greatest heights, your kind is capable of accessing the Celestial Circle."

Weiss raised an eyebrow.

"We are unfamiliar with specifics, for it is a power restricted to the Unquestionable and their greatest souls. There are many citizens who would provide such instruction if you were to release them." It snatched another invisible object immediately after a large chunk was torn from its neck.

"Release?" The wording had not been lost on Weiss. "I'm afraid I must ask for another clarification."

"None may freely leave the Demon City. The greater their power, the more restricted they are." Another large chunk was torn from its front leg. "But, there is always a way out. Such is the 'mercy' of the traitors who chained their own creators."

"I see." Weiss grinned. There may be more potential in the citizens of the city, who were presumably easier to deal with. "And what exactly would need to be done?"

"It varies." The lion lept away from something. "The task that would allow Lady Mara to be free is-"

Half of its head exploded before it could finish. The glowing runes darkened and its body began decorporializing with large chunks vanishing all at once.

Professor Goodwitch stepped back, glaring from the corpse to Weiss.

"I'm not actually considering doing what he said." Weiss technically told the truth. Until she had reliable backup, like one of her teammates, attempting to call a more powerful demon would be foolish. "At least, not the part about calling an even stronger demon."

"You'll seek this, Celeste Circle?" She said slowly.

"Celestial and"- Weiss conjured a glyph in her palm. -"yes. Can you think of a better way to fight back against a goddess?"

Professor Goodwitch watched the glyph as Weiss channelled energy into it. Her heart was beating faster and faster.

Now, she knew what she needed to do to really make a difference when the rest of her team came back. She wouldn't be restricted to logistics and analysis.

The power within her soul surged, bathing the room in a silver light.

"Is there a point to this?" Professor Goodwitch raised an eyebrow, fingers gripping her weapon tightly.

With the flick of a hand, Weiss squelched it… even more easily than before. The power beat deep in her chest, aching to be used.

"Yes, there was." She smiled, only one worry spinning within her mind.

If she needed to go through the ordeals again, what would the second sacrifice be?

* * *

Ruby walked along the main road, hidden from almost all eyes. A couple of little kids looked right at her, but none of the adults did, including the patrolling Atlas soldiers. She slipped through their checkpoint on the road and went straight for the pillar of smoke.

 _She listened to the flow of energy around the town as she moved._ It was off, the stream that should have continued spiraling in looping around itself instead.

The night was briefly illuminated by a lightning jumping from one spike of the tower to another.

' _Is that what you were talking about?'_ Blake said to her mind.

' _Yeah.'_ Ruby watched it strike again and again. Some of the spikes were much weaker than the others, just like they had been before she had helped. ' _Don't get too close to the tower.'_

' _Not planning to. There's a squad of soldier's I'm tailing.'_

' _How many?'_

' _Fifteen.'_

' _Gonna take'em on all at once?'_ Yang interrupted.

' _I could, but no,'_ Blake said.

' _We need to know how many they have here.'_ Ruby counted the patrolls moving past her. ' _I can only see six more so far.'_

' _That still isn't enough for all of those trucks and-'_ Blake paused. ' _I think I know what caused the fire and made Atlas stay here.'_

' _What'd you mean?'_

' _Jump up to a roof. You should be able to see it from anywhere.'_

Ruby launched herself up three stories. She landed on the edge nearest to the fire with a gasp. An entire row of houses had burned down, the blackened remains still smoldering with glowing embers. An Atlas airship was sitting at the end of the path of destruction its cargo bay torn open.

In the distance, a second row of houses was destroyed with a second ship at the end of the path, this one's left wing blown off.

Both could be traced back to the tower. Another squad of soldiers was standing around the base with a large machine, sparks flying from the door to the tower. They had the area cleared, a single woman approaching from the town a Dust saber on her belt. One of the soldiers saluted her as she walked up to them.

Ruby pulsed her Semblance as she jumped, landing a few feet away from them.

"Progress is slow, ma'am." The soldier lowered her hand and pointed to the door. "The Fire Dust isn't burning hot enough to soften the door."

"It isn't burning hot enough?"

"No, ma'am. Igniting it in the first place was difficult and it's almost two hundred degrees too cold."

"How far have you gotten?"

"Two centimeters. At this rate I expect that-"

Ruby tuned them out as she walked away. There were more important conversations. ' _Blake, Yang, we have a problem.'_

' _Need me to come and take some of those guys for you?'_ Yang chuckled.

' _The Atlas military is trying to drill into the tower. They have another six guys working on it.'_

Yang snickered, but didn't say anything.

Ruby stopped at the other entrance that she knew about. The rod that opened it was sticking out of a barrel on someone's porch. She ran her fingers over the rough metal. Getting in would be easy, but she couldn't be sure they wouldn't notice the mechanism. When she was at Beacon, people noticed the things she had messed with, even if they didn't notice her.

After a moment of thought, she put the rod back down. It was too risky _and a quick glance to the future confirmed that._

' _I think...'_ Ruby hesitated in her message. ' _I think that this is why ambushing them would've been better. If we want to save Petra and Maroon, we're going to need to fight them in town.'_

' _I guess we can't maroon them in the tower.'_ Yang's dumb grin could practically be heard.

' _Can't you just break whatever they're using?'_ Blake asked, ignoring her partner.

' _You're no fun.'_

Ruby also ignored her sister. ' _I could, but it isn't exactly hard to find another drill and it breaking out of nowhere would make them even more curious. They're not going to give up unless we make them.'_

' _I'm still not comfortable with that.'_ Blake continued.

' _We don't need to seriously fight. We just need to make them leave the town.'_ Ruby watched the officer as she left. She went for the nice inn, opening the door to the largest room in town that also happened to have the most comfortable bed. ' _It's simple. You two will fly down the road at the crack of dawn, taking breaks to make sure their scouts see you.'_

' _I'm not seeing how this helps break them first.'_ Yang almost sent a yawn. ' _I mean, it'd be better than just sitting here, but…'_

Ruby crept close to the inn. ' _I'll be following behind on Bumblebee, in disguise as another soldier.'_

Neither of her teammates responded. Just in case, _Ruby looked at the threads of the future to confirm her plan was a good idea._

' _There's just one thing I need to know.'_ Ruby peaked into the window. The officer was sitting at a desk, looking over her scroll. ' _Blake, if I can get a copy of some orders, how long do you think it'll take to forge an order to chase the two of you down?'_

' _Ohhh, I see… It wouldn't take me very long,'_ Blake said.

' _Give me a couple of minutes to get some samples.'_ Ruby lept up to the roof and came down on the other side with a laugh. The latch had been loose when she stayed there and popping the bathroom window of the officer's room open was a cinch.

She crept up to the door, opening it a crack. The woman's back was turned to her. Through her Semblance, Ruby turned into a cloud of rose petals and reappeared in the middle of the room.

The woman still didn't turn around.

Scroll in hand, Ruby snuck up to her and snapped picture after picture of the documents, only pausing when she saw the woman's email signature: Specialist Schnee. Now that Ruby was close enough to look, she could see the same snowflake emblem that Weiss had on the pommel of the woman's saber.

Was she Weiss' sister? Cousin? Ruby knew that Weiss had a sister and a bunch of cousins, but not what any of them did.

' _I… I just figured out something that might make this a little complicated.'_ Ruby sucked in a breath.

' _What?'_ Blake asked.

' _The Specialist in charge of the unit here is related to Weiss in some way.'_

' _I'm... '_ Blake paused. ' _I don't think that changes anything. What does your future sight say?'_

 _Ruby checked it again. 'It's still good.'_

' _Don't worry, I'll be sure to be gentle.'_ Yang snickered. ' _I mean, I wouldn't want Weiss getting mad at me for treating her… sister?... please be sister, badly.'_

Ruby had a distinct feeling that she shouldn't ask.

' _Or maybe I should? It'd be pretty evil for me to go after someone Weiss can't and the demon's still pissed off.'_

' _Please don't,'_ Blake said before Ruby could.

Yang sighed very loudly, ' _I know.'_

' _Am I gonna have to not be near the tent tonight?'_ Ruby squeaked.

' _Nah, it'll be fine.'_ Yang sighed again. ' _Though, I wouldn't say no to a picture.'_

Ruby groaned. ' _Seriously?'_

 _Ruby, I've been sitting here, by myself, for almost half an hour. You two get to go off and be ninjas while I'm in this creepy forest, with only the demon's stupid voice to keep me company. I can't practice exploding things, moving energy around, or even just read the net because we have no reception.'_

' _I'm sorry?'_

' _It's not your fault… I'm actually looking forward to this plan. It's been awhile since I gave a good evil speech and maybe that'll get rid of this migraine.'_

Ruby winced. Even though she had no idea what that felt like, it still wasn't a good place to be. ' _Would it help if I pranked her?'_

After a long moment, Yang asked, ' _Define prank.'_

' _Like, write some sort of threat on her bathroom mirror.'_

' _Ohhh… What should we do, Blake? You're the writer here and I'm thinking that something about angels is appropriate.'_

Ruby giggled while they planned out a properly scary message, keeping an eye on Specialist Schnee the entire time. This woman was the commander, the point of failure for the entire group. Her connections could be their downfall… but it wouldn't be right to do that.

Ruby could've solved all of this just by cursing this particular unit. They'd shut down, unable to perform any task correctly. But… she already had Blake and Yang with her. That was the main reason why she placed the curse in the first place. This was a town where the locals _would_ kill anyone who threatened them and, even if Atlas was trying to kill Anathema, they didn't deserve that.

' _Ruby, I've got it.'_ Blake snapped her out of her own head.

She dashed back into the bathroom as a cloud of petals and picked up a bar of soap.

' _It starts like this.'_ Blake began rattling off a very long message.

' _I'm gonna need you to repeat that.'_ Ruby gulped; she might not have enough mirror.

' _And don't forget to lather and rinse.'_ Yang chuckled.

Ruby tapped her forehead against the mirror, barely keeping her own giggles in as she started writing.

 **A/N: Hey all, sorry this one's going up so late.**

 **Life has gotten incredibly busy faster than I expected and I'm really sorry to say it, but I think I need to shift the schedule for a bit. At least until the holidays are over at minimum.**

 **I feel like my quality's been dropping because of how often I need to write or edit last minute. This is primarily thanks to time I used to have in the middle of the week no longer existing.**

 **I'd hoped to put this off, but I've dropped too many balls and need to slow down a little to catch up.**

 **That said I'm still really excited about where the story is and will keep posting chapters, just less frequently than I have been.**

 **Starting today, I'll be posting a new chapter every other week and will get back to every week once life calms down.**


	23. Chapter 3-7

Jaune slowly opened the door to his room, peering inside. The lights were off and the curtains drawn closed. Ren and Nora were both curled up in their beds, though Nora was sleeping on the book Weiss gave her. Pyrrha, along with her gear, was nowhere to be seen.

"Jaune?" Her voice echoed from down the hall.

He turned to the side, she'd just come around the corner. "Pyrrha?"

"Hello." She waved as she walked to him, voice soft. "It's rather late."

"Yeah." Jaune chuckled, watching her. She wasn't walking right. Her steps were wavering, like her balance was off.

Pyrrha was in her armor, skin glistening with sweat.

"More nightly practice with Weiss?"

"No, not today." She frowned, almost sighing. "She had somewhere else to be."

Jaune nodded, biting the inside of his cheek. He closed their door. "Do you want to go for a walk?"

"What?"

"Yeah." He shrugged. "You know, just like, walk around campus and talk about stuff… Catch up?"

She stared at him for a moment. "Why?"

"I… uhh…" Jaune rubbed the side of his neck. "Well, it sort of seems like you might need it."

"Am I that obvious?"

"Kinda?" Jaune dragged the word out into an awkward chuckle. When Pyrrha slumped, he stopped. "Sorry."

"That may be true, but…" She turned away, fists clenched. "Wouldn't your girlfriend be angry with you for spending time with me rather than her?"

"What? No, Flora's gotta study tonight and we're not together all of the time."

"Flora… That's her name?"

Jaune raised a finger. "No way."

"Yes, I had no idea what her name was."

"I know that I introduc-"

"You been avoiding us all semester." Pyrrha raised her voice. "Ever since you were dating… Who was it? The blonde one?"

Jaune took a slow breath, pushing his objection down. "I…I guess deserve that."

There never had been a blond girl he was dating, just talking to, but that was beside the point. "But, I'm here now and I'd like to help… if I can."

"It's not that simple." She crossed her arms, turning away. "We've already spoken more tonight than we have in months."

He dug his nails into his palm. "You've been busy too, training with Weiss or going to Vale with her."

"I need to get better."

"Why?"

She kept her back to him.

"You're already amazing... incredible." Jaune sputtered, running his fingers through his hair. "Why do you need to train, for hours, every night?"

Pyrrha took a deep breath. "Because I'm not good enough."

"What are you talking about?" He shouted. "Pyrrha, you're so far beyond everyone else already. What could possibly…"

She clenched her fists and glanced toward Weiss' door… no team RWBY's.

"It's her again… isn't it?" He stared at it. "She's the one Ren and Nora are obsessed with too…"

"Jaune?"

"How many hours, Pyrrha… How many hours have you been practicing _every night_?"

She didn't respond.

"How many?"

"Four or five."

"Four or five…" Jaune rubbed his forehead. "You're spending all of your free time training; Nora's trying to decide which part of herself to cut off for power; and Ren just mastered a technique used by assassins."

"You have no right to judge." Pyrrha glared at him. "You haven't been around-"

"That doesn't mean I don't notice you coming back to our room after me every night I'm there!" He slammed his fist into the wall. "It doesn't mean I'm not forced to watch the three of you getting ready to throw your lives away."

"We- I'm not going to-"

"Not going to what? Get yourself killed by going after the girl who beat Professor Goodwitch to a bloody pulp? Try to take out a demon who's murdered literally hundreds of people with her own hands? To say nothing about the third, who, was the strongest according to the other two last semester."

"They have names and that's not why I'm doing this."

"Then why?"

"I-" She clasped her hands, running a thumb over her knuckles. "Jaune, have you ever watched something happening which you knew should not occur, but you were powerless to stop?"

"Yeah." The memory of terror, of a brilliant red cloak and the sounds of gunfire, flashed in his mind. It was followed by the sight of Pyrrha's empty bed.

"And, no matter what you do, no matter how much you practice… you will always be outmatched. You will never, can never, be never relevant, never able to make them listen unless they choose to."

"Yeah." A pit fell into the bottom of his stomach. That had been all of last semester. "I've been there. I get it, but… But who is this they you're talking about? What have they done that's so wrong?"

"Jaune… I..." She wandered down the hall, path drifting from side to side.

He followed her to a window overlooking the main courtyard. It was just like it always had been, long before that night… unbroken.

Pyrrha walked up to it, touching the glass and looking to the sky. "When Ruby… fought... that night, what were you thinking?"

"I'd... rather not…" He started answering reflexively. "No, wait. You should know."

Pyrrha glanced to him, arms still crossed.

"So many people ask me that and I… I wasn't thinking about anything." He couldn't look at her.

"What do you mean?"

"When she was there, about to kill them, I looked out at the crowd." Jaune stared at the ground. "I could see how she was controlling them in their eyes. They were paralyzed, unable to help."

Pyrrha didn't say anything.

"I was too, but I knew that someone had to do something." He looked to the sky, watching the dark clouds overtake the stars. "So I did. I shouted and by the time I realized I was running at her, it was too late."

"She would _not_ have killed them."

"She would've," He practically spat. "Pyrrha, she went completely insane. She was ranting about Atlas murdering kids to make weapons. Weapons that she was convinced were _talking_ to her; which, in hindsight, makes the way she talked about her scythe make so much more sense."

Pyrrha took a deep breath. "I do not know what she was thinking in regards to attacking Beacon or hearing the voices of weaponry, but I know what I heard in the forest. Ruby has the power to save all of Remnant from the Grimm."

"Pyrrha, that's crazy. Someone like that"- Jaune clenched his fists. -"can't be a savior. People don't just wake up and start killing everyone who disagrees with them. That's not what a hero does."

"Ruby hasn't-"

"Yes, she has. She cursed every single Hunter in Vale and a ton in Mistral too. She said so herself." He shouted. "Do you have any idea how many people have died because their protectors can't stop the Grimm? Is that something a hero does? Stand by and let innocents be slaughtered to save a demon?"

"That isn't…"

"Pyrrha, why are you defending her?"

"I don't think that you have the entire sto-"

"She put my sister in the hospital!" He cracked the window frame with his fist. "My oldest sister, who kept the fact that she was a Huntress a secret for years, can't keep my little nieces and nephews safe any more... because Ruby decided she might be a threat and cursed her."

"I do not believe that she realized that the effects would be so cri-"

"Maybe she didn't, but she's had months to notice. It's not like the results are being kept secret, but no, she hasn't stopped." Jaune stomped, stepping toward her. "Meanwhile, Blake and Yang burned a camp to the ground and just took over a city. If that's what saving the world from the Grimm looks like, then I don't want to know what breaking it does."

"The temple of Saturn says that there are those who must die in order for new life to come about. I can see no reason why this would not be true on larger scales as well."

"And they're the ones to do it?" He matched the fire in her eyes with his own. "I refuse to believe that the gods would ever give any of those murderers their blessing."

"Lady Mars, under whose sign I was born and have trained, is the goddess of war and conflict. There is no such thing as a bloodless war and I refuse to assume that I would have a better idea what fights must exist than she." Pyrrha stepped closer. "If her champion causes a great deal of strife and hardship, then it must be because such battles should come to pass, otherwise she would not have named Ruby as her Shieldbearer."

"Pyrrha…" He gasped, unable to find the words.

"Thank you, Jaune." She looked away and stepped back. "Though this may not have been your intent, you have provided me with the answer that I sought."

"Pyrrha, no." He stepped forward, the spectre of just how wrong he was about Pyrrha running its claws down his back. "You need to get help. Don't let her control you!"

Pyrrha turned away. "Goodbye, Jaune."

He fell to his knees and held his eyes tightly shut. That wasn't how anything was supposed to happen.

Jaune touched the sunburst amulet hidden under his uniform and spoke to himself. It was not the right time, but night was still a part of the day.

"I-I know that I haven't gone to any services or make any sacrifices, but please. If there is any justice in this world, do not let her be right. If there is any goodness in heaven, then they must have stolen their power from its rightful wielders. If there is any light in the hearts of man, open her eyes to the truth and… give me the strength to keep them safe from the Anathema… and from themselves."

Lightning flashed outside. The metal was cold.

* * *

' _I'm in position.'_ Ruby's voice echoed in Yang's mind as the edge of town came into sight.

Even though she'd seen it last night, it was still hard to believe that such a little town was able to survive without any real defenses. The morning light made it seem so open, vulnerable.

' _You could make it yours.'_

"Are you ready?" Yang asked Blake.

"Yeah." Her partner's eyes flicked from house to house. "They have us surrounded."

"Good." Yang took a deep breath and stoked the flames of her soul. This was it, time to be an evil jerk and draw all of the attention to herself. She rolled her shoulders and neck, muscles tightening up too soon on the left.

This was going to be so bad, but feel so good.

They continued walking until they were halfway down the street. The houses and windows were deserted; the echoes of heavy footsteps running away were the only sign that anyone lived in the town.

After a moment of waiting, Yang shouted, "You can come out, I know you're there."

Her voice echoed through the deserted streets while she tapped her foot.

"Come on," She groaned, raising a fist. A green flare shot into the sky, exploding as soon as it got high enough for the tower to strike it. "If you don't come out, I _will_ start shooting."

She pulled an arm back. "Five."

She spread her wings wide. "Four."

She ignited her fist. "Three."

They still hasn't come out. "Two."

Shit, she was really going to have to do it. "O-one."

"Wait." A woman called out from ahead of them.

Yang pulled her hand back, watching as she walked out. She was definitely a Huntress with the long white coat and expensive saber. It was held low, pointed at Yang.

"Glad you could join us." Yang grinned, awkwardly chuckled under her breath.

"I didn't take you for someone who would threaten the innocent to get your way." She stopped in the middle of the road. "How disappointing for someone admitted to Beacon to fall so far."

Yang kept smiling as she clenched her fists. It might be easier than expected. "Innocent? You mean the soldiers who took over a little town in the woods?"

"You'd destroy the only property of these poor townsfolk simply to make your battle easier?"

As she shrugged, Yang grit her teeth. "Well, yeah. I am Anathema. It's what we do."

"Yes, you listen to the little voice in the back of your head that tells you that you can do whatever to want to whomever you want without regard to consequences."

' _She's smart. You should do what she says.'_

' _That's… a little too accurate.'_ Yang thought to Blake as she stepped forward. "That's really rich, coming from you."

"Ahh, yes." The woman smirked. "How was it phrased again? 'You shall be visited by the spectres of those whose lives your family has stolen. One of red, one of black, and one of green; the three shall torment you with the pain that they had suffered.'?"

"I might be a demon, but you… damn." Yang shook her head, trying to pull up Blake's old arguments with Weiss. "Skimping on safety equipment because the workers had Aura, charging them so much for rent and food that they can't even buy a train ticket out, even making them buy their own tools: it's… inspiring."

She glared at Yang, but didn't say a word.

"So, I thought, if I'm gonna go around taking over cities, I might as well learn from the best."

"And thus, you came find to me." She shook her head. "I'm afraid that you wasted your time, though I'm also sure that my sister will be thrilled to know that you approve of our father's methods."

Yang pushed the flinch down. ' _Blake, are you getting anything from her?'_

' _She's in touch with Weiss and knows that Weiss wants to change the SDC.'_ Blake sighed. ' _She's also trying to mess with you.'_

' _Well… the second part's working, but something still feels weird.'_ Yang kept her worry from her face with a chuckle. "Does this mean you're not just going to come along? I didn't expect you to like pain that much."

She arched an eyebrow. "I said nothing of the sort."

A glyph appeared on the ground behind her. It looked just like the ones Weiss used when she wanted to hit a big group. As the white light grew, a bony skull rose from the center. White skull, blue eyes, and blue markings: it continued going until an inverted Ursa Major stood behind her. Unlike a normal Grimm, it stood silently, waiting.

"If you're not going to come qui-" Yang began speaking.

The woman raised her sword. Yang could feel the attack coming long before it got near her. She could catch the bullet, but it didn't feel too bad and just taking it would make it even worse for them.

Blake vanished from sight, but _Yang focused all of her power into her form._

Her head snapped to the side as it smashed into her, the fires of her Semblance raging within her soul. The round fell to the ground, tinkling on the stones of the road. A drop of wetness ran down the side of her face.

' _You're still weak.'_

A gasp echoed from the roof to her right as she wiped the blood away.

"Huh… you actually hurt me." Yang looked at the man. "Good job."

' _I'll hit the machines and their scrolls.'_ Blake thought to her from one of the alleyways.

"Anyway, where was I?" Yang looked back to the woman, smiling. "Right, if you're not going to come quietly, then I'm going to have to pound you into the ground first."

' _Make her beg for death.'_

"You can try." Another glyph appeared beneath her feet.

"Ohh, feisty. I like."

"Hmmph." The woman scowled.

"Weiss enjoyed it."

"I'm going to pretend that you didn't say anything."

"Sure thing ice queen." Yang rolled her eyes. "Can I at least get your name before we dance?"

"Winter." Hey glyph glowed with a pale yellow that Yang hadn't seen from Weiss before.

Yang raised her fists and winked.

Winter flicker her sword to the side and the Ursa charged. With each lunge, it rattled windows.

Yang stomped, _firing a line of force through the ground at it._ The street exploded into a shower of shrapnel that tore through the Grimm's belly. It crashed to the ground, sliding to a stop right in front of her.

"You're going to need to do better than that." Yang shattered its mask with a single kick.

"Fire at will." Four more glyphs sprang into existence around Yang as the soldiers unloaded. Their regular guns stung less than the Grimm wasps that Tyrian sent against her. Her skin was more than enough to stop them, no Aura needed,

She slapped the bullet from the heavy rifle down as more anti-Grimm appeared, enormous apes. The largest, standing almost three times as tall as Yang, bellowed as it beat its chest.

Yang fired her gauntlets, rocketing toward it. She caught its swipe mid-air, _her path unwavering._ As she landed, she sank a fist into its gut and _fired it at its mistress._

Winter sidestepped the Grimm as gunshots rang out from the rest of the town.

Another of the monsters came flying at her. She caught its punch by one of its fingers and heaved, slamming a third into the ground with its bulk.

By the time she'd thrown the fourth into the air, the first had gotten back up.

Yang roared with laughter as she danced between their fists. Duck, weave, jump, flip: it wasn't often that she was the agile one in a fight, but they were just so slow that it didn't matter. She spun through them, nudging their arms so that they hit each other. "Come on, this is a joke. Give me a real-"

She blocked Winter's blade with an inch to spare. Yang turned to her, smile brightening. "I guess I should stop monkeying around."

"They're apes." Winter hopped back as the Grimm came in again.

Yang shrugged, catching the double fisted slam with one of her own. "I snow that, Winter, but-"

Yang jumped out of the way of the second sword strike. "You really need to chill."

"Must you?"

"Blame your parents for providing the ammunition." Yang shrugged, glancing at her gauntlets. "And the other ammunition."

Winter growled and pressed the attack.

Yang hopped, parried, and winged away of her as the Grimm closed in. Winter moved between their swings as if they were in sync, the tip of her saber catching Yang again and again. It was never hard enough to be a worry, but also not soft enough that she could ignore it like most of the bullets… which had stopped.

Yang kicked off of the back of a Grimm, slamming it into Winter. As she flew up, she spread her wings and watched the soldiers on the roofs. Their guns were in pieces, each cleanly sliced through.

' _Good going with the guns.'_ She thought to Blake. Her partner was out of sight, but there were still other shots ringing from the streets. ' _Find a scroll?'_

' _I have three that're unlocked.'_

' _How long until they're good.'_ Yang watched two of the apes line up underneath her. A third leapt onto their hands, then was thrown up. Its face met a shot _burning with hellfire_ and the body arched past.

"Come on. You were doing so well." Yang twirled as she ascended, keeping an eye on the new glyph forming behind Winter. It spun rapidly, glowing with a yellow light.

As she swung her sword, a flock of tiny Nevermore sprang from the glyph. They flew at her, small sparks jumping between their talons. They raked her as they passed, making her skin tingle.

"Is your nest trick going to be-"

The hair on the back of Yang's neck rose as Winter smirked. The air smelled like a pool... or an arc welder. Light flashed from behind too fast for her to turn around.

 _Yang tensed all of her muscles and flooded them with power. The fire raging within her surged forth, sending sparks flying as the cage of lightning writhed around her. Her hair became a glowing inferno so bright that Yang had to close her own eyes to avoid going blind. The bolts that raged and coiled around her heated the air to the point where it shimmered, but she remained inviolate._

For a moment, the arcs of power quieted down. She wasn't going to die. She was safe.

Two more lines of Nevermore closed to the tower _and Yang once more broke the attack upon her body._

In the next break, she fired both gauntlets and threw herself down, narrowly avoiding the bolt that followed. Green flames licked the top of her vision even as she saw red.

 _The air screamed behind her dive, tearing into burning ribbons. She came upon Winter like a shot from a cannon, her flaming fingers wrapping around the woman's throat as she punched her into the street._

Yang's feet hit the ground as the flames leached into Winter's soul.

She ran, tearing up the street beneath her with her enemy's body.

' _Show her what true power is.'_

As the road bent, she plowed forward. There was no curb, but the building would work just as well.

Yang ended her charge by slammed Winter through the wall, following behind and landing on top of her. Yang's body heaved with each breath through clenched teeth.

She grabbed what remained of the woman's collar, hauling her face closer while she pulled her free hand back for another punch at…

' _Do it.'_

Winter's closed eyes…

' _Finish her.'_

Her limp body…

' _She'll kill you if you don't.'_

Yang dropped her. She didn't move.

' _At least you marked her as your own.'_

' _Ruby! The plan's off!'_ Yang's entire body shook while she leaned closer, hovering her cheek over Winter's mouth. The brand on Winter's neck pulsed with heat, letters bubbling up in the green light.

There was no breath coming from her lips to cool it down.

' _Get over here right now!'_

* * *

The air was hot and heavy, hard to breath.

Every movement was like fire tearing through her skin, ripping open wounds against the all too rough sheets beneath her.

 _A deep crimson flashed before her eyes._

Winter awakened with a gasp, heart pounding. She was in an unfamiliar room, lying on an unfamiliar bed, and an unfamiliar girl was sitting by her side. She reached for her waist, but there was no handle waiting for her.

"Oh, you woke up really fast." The girl sat straight up, her red eyes sparkling with bronze.

"Who are you and where am I?"

"You're in biggest room in the inn and… umm..." She saluted improperly. It was so bad that it would have been an insult, if the girl wasn't obvious non-military. "Private Ruby Rose reporting for duty."

Winter stared at her.

"I'm, uhh, aware of the irony?" The girl tried to smile.

Winter continued staring.

"Well, you know. We're supposed to be hunting the Anathema Ruby and I have the same…" She groaned, folding under the glare. "Okay, fine, that was a dumb idea."

"Why am I alive?"

"Because I fixed you up even though you"- Ruby leaned in close and shouted -"tried to murder my sister!"

"I see." Winter opened and closed her sword hand, stretching her fingers. "Thank you."

"That's it? No, 'I'm sorry' or 'I'll never do it again'?"

"No, I'm not sorry and I fully intend to finish the job once I have the forces to do so."

"What?"

"You are the greatest threats to civilization that I'm aware of. To do anything less would be a mockery of my oaths to Atlas."

"But, why would you just say that when I'm right here?"

"Because I'm not a fool. I do not have enough force to accomplish anything, as your sister so easily demonstrated." Winter held back a wince as she shifted, a line of pain flaring up along her back.

"That's it then, you're just going keep trying no matter what we have to say?"

"Is there anything I could say which would convince you to free the Hunters of Vale?"

Ruby narrowed her eyes. "I'm not going to let them torture people."

"Expected, but disappointing." Winter met the glare. "I had heard a great deal about how moral of a person you were from Weiss."

Ruby backed away. "Wait… Weiss is talking to you?"

"Yes."

"And she's told you about us?"

"Of course she has."

"And you know about her?"

"I don't know what you're talking about." Winter stressed every word.

"Nooo," Ruby shook her head. "You wouldn't say things like that if you didn't-"

Despite the pain each movement caused, Winter lashed out.

Ruby caught her hand before she could cover the girl's mouth. "I'm still mad at you for hurting Yang."

Winter took a deep breath. At least this was a different topic. "None of my attacks on her were successful."

"That's not what I meant." Ruby let go of her hand. "Do you have any idea how freaked out she was that she almost killed her girlfriend's sister?"

"That's odd. I wouldn't have expected a mass murderer to care about such things."

"Yang is not a murderer." Ruby growled through her teeth.

"She has the blood of at least a hundred on her hands, to say nothing of your own."

"You think I don't know that!" Ruby screamed. "I don't want to keep going like this, but they weren't going to stop unless someone made them."

"So you took away their freedom to choose. And here I would've expected you to fight on Vale's side during the Great War."

"I am not-"

"The strength of a person's character is proven through actions, not words or ideals. You already have control that the kings and queens of old could only dream of."

Ruby turned away and stomped. "Grah, it's like arguing with Weiss. Everything I say can be thrown back at me."

"I'll take that as compliment." Winter smirked.

"I- You… Why?" Ruby ran her hands through her hair. "Why are you… You're not scared that a bunch of Anathema have your at their mercy?"

"You already indicated that your sister wants me alive and I'm certain that you are aware of how angry Weiss would be if anything happened to me while I'm in your care."

"So you do-"

"Care about my _little sister's_ feelings?" Winter raised an eyebrow. "Yes."

"Or is it because-"

"Where is your sister right now?"

"Stop interrupting!" A red glyph appeared on her forehead.

Winter suppressed a shudder. Even though she knew she was safe, the way that the girl glared at her was like staring death in the eyes.

"Thank you for shutting up for one moment." Ruby huffed. "It's just- Why are you so much worse than anyone else I've ever talked to?"

"Not used to naked hostility? It's unsurprising; I'd imagine that most people you encounter would either be sycophants or be so fearful they cannot speak against you." Winter pushed the butterflies in her stomach down. "It's simple. I have heard a great deal about both you and your sister from Weiss that do not match the reality that I can see." Winter folded her hands in her lap. "Is she is to be believed, then the two of you have incredibly strong morals and good instincts."

"O-Okay…"

"It's difficult to reconcile such an opinion with your actions. Are you a liar so skilled that she can fool my sister or are you a little girl who cannot comprehend the impact that she has?" Winter raised one hand to the side. "Similarly, is your sister a seductress playing on Weiss' loneliness or a hot head who does whatever her worst impulses suiggest?

"The distinction doesn't matter because neither type of person can be allowed to have the power and influence the two of you do."

"You didn't say anything about Blake."

"No, I didn't, though going along with your orders doesn't speak well of her."

"Alright, so you think we're either dangerous or stupid, but it doesn't matter which."

"There are significant differences between the two groups."

"Because one of them might be able to change?"

"Quite."

Ruby frowned.

"How about you bring me to your sister so that we may speak more _in private_?"

"You just woke up."

"And we're burning daylight."

"Okay, sure." Ruby shrugged. "She went to the tower so that she can learn how to build it and keep everyone safe from the Grimm."

"That only makes matters worse." Winter slowly stood up. She glanced down at the simple blue dress they must have dressed her in. I was simple, conservative, and thus acceptable for being in from of her men. "You've already brought a kingdom to its knees and now you seek to replace its defenders with infrastructure that only you can maintain."

"That is not _at all_ why we're doing this!" Ruby kept her voice down, "We're going to save everyone from the Grimm and then-"

"And then what? When you're crowned God-Empress of Remnant, how many soldiers will need to die to the hands of a rogue Anathema before you deem them worthy of death?"

"I also don't want to be that. Why would you think-"

"Let's assume that your ambition becomes reality. Do you truly believe that you would be able to save all of Remnant from the Grimm and then go back to a 'normal' life? You, Ruby Rose; the Girl in Red, Blight of Beacon, and Savior of Anathema; have already declared that your opinion is the only one that matters in Vale. You can cripple anyone with the wave of your hand if they do something you deem unacceptable."

Ruby growled.

"If what you say is true, then the only reason why the throne sits empty is your own ignorance of the influence that you currently wield."

"Even if I wanted to be… I don't know, Queen of Vale, there's no way the Hunters would let me."

"What Hunters? You've already rendered your opposition irrelevant."

"Then the people! They would never-"

"Accept the girl who saved them from ever fearing the Grimm again, eliminated the ancient foe which has trapped us, as their ruler and goddess in the flesh? If you _mad_ plan succeeds then you will become the savior of all humanity. No one would dare speak a word against you."

Ruby looked down. "It would save more lives than I can count."

"What lives would live in your wake? The technology of the Anathema cannot be reproduced. It can rarely be fixed when it breaks. Maintaining your favor would be the primary job of every single person who ever interacts with you. They would be beholden to a girl who would sacrifice innumerable lives, control the minds of her own countrymen, all so that every Anathema has the chance to become someone capable of winning a battle against an army."

"That's not why I stopped them. They were torturing and killing innocent people." The force behind her words had almost vanished.

"And through doing so, condemned thousands to die because the Hunters who were supposed to protect them are not able to." Winter stepped closer to Ruby, towering over her despite their different in power. "How many people would your sister have to kill before you would turn against her? Regardless of whether or not she meant to."

"I would never-" Ruby stopped herself, freezing.

"I had to answer that question myself. It was not easy, but it had to be done in order for me to be an effective leader and ensure that I would prevent her from going too far."Winter ran her hands up the places where her body ached or burned, feeling her muscles and joints. As her fingers touched her neck, she paused. There was a large scar running from one side to the other.

"I wasn't able to fix that one and now I'm not going to even if I could." Ruby scowled at her.

"Very well. I still thank you for the healing provided."

"Yang said that it'll explode into hellfire if you either attack her or are mean to her. So, you know, stop being such a jerk."

"Noted." Winter took a deep breath. With that knowledge, her next conversation would be much harder. "Shall we continue with her present?"


	24. Chapter 3-8

Ruby bathed the tunnel in red light that only she could see. There were still no bugs. "Follow me. It's straight."

Winter walked behind her, flashlight casting the shadow of Ruby's cloak on the ground in front of them. It shifted back and forth, sometimes covering up one of the holes in the wall and sometimes making the runes on the floor shine with a light that was a little too dull.

"It shouldn't be too far now."

Blake's voice echoed down the tunnel as they continued. "I don't want _anything_ to do with the White Fang."

"But, Lady Belladonna-" Maroon pleaded.

"No, that's that and-" Blake paused. "Ruby?

"Hi, Blake!" Ruby shouted to them as she rounded the corner. "I brought Winter with me."

Blake was sitting at dark iron table with Maroon standing opposite of her. A bunch of empty boxes littered the sides of the room, all snack and survival food. As Winter came around the corner, the runes on the floor lit up with a pulse of light traveling toward an inner door.

"Greetings." Winter stepped beside Ruby, watching Blake. "Is she the other Anathema the townsfolk spoke of?"

Maroon glared at her, speaking through clenched teeth. "I am not, Schnee."

Winter met the glare. "I see."

Ruby groaned. "Anyway. Where's Yang?"

Blake nodded her head toward the hallway leading down to the center of the tower.

"Gotcha. We should let her finish… whatever it is she's doing." Ruby slumped into a chair with a sigh. ' _What were you two talking about?'_

' _She wants me to take over the White Fang.'_ Blake thought back, rubbing her temples.

' _Oh… I, uhh…'_

' _I'm not going to.'_

' _That's good.'_ Ruby looked at Maroon, then Winter. Both were still standing, watching each other.

"You believe that she ought to lead the White Fang?" Winter asked.

Maroon crossed her arms. "She was once one of us. Her ascension is already a sign of our providence. Our leader would step aside if she were only to ask."

Winter glanced at Ruby, meeting her eyes. "Of course. I shouldn't be surprised that the White Fang would betray all of humanity so easily."

"They haven't and I'm not going to do that." Blake grumbled. "There are better ways for me to help."

"What will you do then?"

"I'm-" Blake cut herself off. "Give me a moment."

' _Ruby, will telling her about my book end up good or bad?'_ Blake thought to her.

' _Uhh.' Ruby looked at the paths of potential._ She flinched at the result. ' _It's a bad idea.'_

Blake frowned at her. ' _I know you're lying.'_

Ruby looked away. ' _Okay, fine. Yang and I are going to be sad, but you'll be happy if you bring it up.'_

' _Are you alright?'_

' _No, I'm not, but that doesn't really-' Ruby checked the future again. It had already changed for the worse. 'Actually, just do it. It doesn't matter any longer.'_

' _What's going on?'_

' _Nothing.'_

Blake locked eyes with her.

Ruby glanced at Winter, then back to Blake. ' _She's a jerk who argues just like Weiss.'_

Blake waited for a moment. ' _What did she say to you?'_

As tempting as it was to say 'nothing' again, Blake would catch it. ' _That nothing we're going to do will make things better.'_

Blake clenched her fists. ' _If we kill the Grimm, then that makes it worse?'_

' _Yeah, according to her we'd wind up ruling over everything because we saved the world and no one can ever fight back.'_

' _That doesn't sound like something that'd make you feel bad.'_ Blake glared at Winter.

' _She also… She…'_ Ruby took a deep breath. ' _Blake, am I a bad person?'_

' _... No.'_

Ruby shivered. ' _You hesitated.'_

' _That's not what you think it means.'_

"Then what does it mean?!" Ruby stood up, sending her chair flying backward from the force. Her voice echoed around them, repeating again and again.

Maroon stepped forward, hand going for her weapon.

Winter crossed her arms, raising an eyebrow

Ruby pulled her chair back and sat down. ' _What did it mean? That you have to figure out if what we're doing is right? I'm stopping them for torturing innocent people to death!'_

Blake looked back to her. ' _I… I don't think that what you and Yang mean when you call someone a good or bad person is really relevant here.'_

Ruby stared at her.

' _Okay, so… What would you call someone who killed a man who was threatening to kill a thousand people?'_

' _A hero.'_

' _And how about someone who had the power to save a thousand people, but chooses not to?'_

Ruby waited for a moment. That was kinda bad, but not super-bad. ' _Do they know about this?'_

' _Yes, they know for sure, but still don't do anything.'_

' _I… They're being a jerk and really destructive, but… okay, it's bad.'_ Ruby winced.

' _How about someone who kills the second person in order to save the thousand?'_

' _I…'_ Ruby looked away from her. ' _I don't… That's not good, but... They're still saving a lot of...'_

The thought sputtered out as it formed. Anything could be justified with that.

' _That is what Adam did... or, at least, this is what he claimed that he was doing.'_ Blake stood up and walked away from them. ' _For a long time I believed him. I did whatever I could to help him, even when the people he wanted to kill didn't deserve it.'_

"Why does it have to be like this?" Ruby dropped her head to the table.

' _Like what?'_

"I just wanted them to stop torturing people! Not put themselves into hospital trying to go after me." She rubbed the sides of her neck with both hands. "I thought that they'd eventually give up on investigating people, or hunting us, and go back to fighting the Grimm."

"Would you have stopped?" Blake met Ruby's eyes when she looked up. "Back when we first met, you were completely against the Anathema. If this happened back then, would you have stopped?"

Ruby shivered. "No. I'd have immediately gone after us if I thought I could…"

"Ruby?"

Ruby sat all of the way up and turned around. "Winter, why is Atlas the only one coming after us?"

"What do you mean?" Winter crossed her arms. "Hunters from across the globe traveled to Beacon to kill you."

"Yeah, individual _Hunters_ did, but only the Atlas military showed up as a group."

Winter shook her head. "Vale only accepted help from Atlas."

"We're not in Vale anymore. We've basically claimed a city as ours and no one else has done anything." Ruby ran through the potential scenarios in her head. Hunters across the world each felt the same, that she was sure of, but that didn't mean their leaders did. "How are the Hunters in Vaccuo organized?"

"They group themselves into bands that patrol and protect specific territories."

"Sort of like Vale?"

"If Vale's Hunters split up into groups of a few hundred, yes."

"And… these bands, they're just Hunters? No other people who might also be part of the group?"

"Yes."

Ruby slowly sucked in a breath. They'd be even easier to stop than Vale had been. "I see."

Blake's eyes went wide.

"I…" Maroon gulped. "I'm afraid I don't understand. How is that relevant?"

"I cursed all of Vale and they can't fight back. Vaccuo isn't sending anyone to help so they don't get hit too." Ruby winced, holding her eyes shut. "They're still running investigations too, aren't there?"

"Not that I know of," Winter said slowly.

"Don't lie to us." Blake looked at her. "I can tell when you do."

"Very well. They are."

"That's also why the other guilds from Mistral haven't done anything…" Ruby punched the table. "And the other guilds are doing investigations, aren't they? Even the ones who shouldn't be."

"Yes. Several have picked up the task now that the primary guild can't."

"Why haven't you cursed Atlas?" Maroon asked after a moment of no one talking.

"They're…" Ruby looked at Winter. She probably already knew, but there was no reason to give her any more information since she was still their enemy. "Different."

"We suspect that the size and structure of the organization may impact how effective the curse is, just like those of the traditional types." Winter confirmed Ruby's suspicion. "She hasn't cursed individuals before and Hunters who have renounced their ties to Vale were freed from it."

"I'm surprised Vale has any Hunters left." Maroon shook her head. "Just say that you're out and do unaligned Hunting."

"It's not that simple." Ruby sighed. "They not only need to say they're out, but also mean it."

"And the council doesn't just change their laws or kick everyone out?"

"They can't because that would be doing work, which they're not allowed to do." _Ruby looked to the way this conversation could go._ "Blake, what were you going to say about your book earlier?"

"I- uhh…" Blake pulled out her scroll. "I've been working on a book about the history of the Faunus and their abuse."

"And?" Winter turned to her. "There are many like that already, though I suspect yours would be more persuasive."

"I thought that if I published it as Blake Belladonna, the Anathema, then enough people would read it for their opinions to change."

"There are protocols for destroying anything known to be written by Anathema." Winter shook her head. "You would need to publish anonymously and wait for it to propagate naturally."

"I see…" Blake frowned. "Why would you give me advice like that?"

"Because you, unlike either of your companions, seem to be aware of the consequences of your-"

Ruby grit her teeth and growled.

"-actions."

"There's no need to be insulting." Blake narrowed her eyes.

"I disagree."

"Then stop disagreeing before I make you." _Blake's eyes flashed with a violet light._

Winter stepped back, inhaling sharply. "Understood."

Blake relaxed. "Why do you feel that strongly?"

"Because you plan before you take action and seem to think about potential consequences."

"I said to stop doing that."

"There are very few ways that I could praise your restraint without it seeming like an insult toward your companions."

Blake sighed, drumming her fingers on the table. "Okay, fine. Let's start over. Do you hate the Anathema?"

"Not in and of themselves, but traits which I could ignore in normal people cannot be allowed with such power."

"And, even though we're trying to help everyone, you're still going to fight us?"

"Correct, in part."

Blake gestured for her to continue.

"The most dangerous aspect of the Anathema is how they can destabilize society and then render it dependant on them. If you were to build a weapon that would kill any Grimm that comes near it, no one else would be able to service or repair it, let alone reproduce the design.

"In Atlas, we have vast stores of Anathema technology. Some of them date from before the Great War and we still don't understand how they work. Even those who had the foresight to make notes on construction cannot design something that can be reproduced."

"That's not true! I bui-" Ruby started speaking.

' _Please, let me handle this.'_ Blake thought at her before she could finish the sentence.

Ruby slumped, slouching until her shoulders were almost on the seat, and grumbled about the Dust furnace she'd improved on, but Doctor Oobleck definitely knew how to make.

"We're trying to discover how this tower was made and build more so that people're safe from the Grimm. You're worried that this would translate into a dependence on us that no one could break free of."

"Correct."

"I don't see any other way the four of us could stop all of the Grimm. It's not like we could just go around killing them faster than they app…" Ruby mumbled, thinking back to the rivers of energy flowing around them. This town seemed like it never say any Grimm, even without the tower. Then again, it was also _wrong_ on a deep level.

Winter glanced at her before turning back to Blake. "If you discover a means of harnessing this, then you would have complete control over any region a tower is built in."

"That isn't an easy problem to solve." Blake rubbed her temples.

For a while they all waited, listening to footsteps growing ever louder.

Yang popped through the door, a pair of cross swords glowing brightly on her forehead. "Okay, so I could feel all of that. What the hell is going on?"

Petra peaked in from the doorframe, smiling slightly at Ruby. She didn't have the energy to smile back.

"We're discussing our plans with Winter." Blake sighed, "and getting nowhere."

"Okay," Yang drew the word out. "Umm, I didn't know she was on board with team Anathema, but I guess it makes sense."

"I'm not." Winter bowed slightly. "Lady Xiao-long."

Yang flinched. "No. Don't call me that."

"It's the only proper way to greet you. I wouldn't want to accidentally offend nd have my throat explode. Is there anything else that you would prefer?"

Yang groaned through clenched teeth. "Just call me Yang."

"This is what we've been dealing with." Ruby said with a huff, "All she does is insult us and tell us that everything we want to do'll just make things worse."

"Kay." Yang nodded. "I was happy that you're not hurt anymore, but if you're going to be like that, I don't know if I still am."

"I have said nothing except for the truth. Every idea proposed has horrendous consequences, with the exception of the book that would stop discrimination against the Faunus. Even that could backfire, but it doesn't have to, unlike building more of these towers."

"So why don't you help us?" Ruby snapped. "If all of our plans are so bad, what would you do in our shoes?"

Winter looked at her. "No. I'm not going to help you. If you can't realize what might be wrong without my advice then you shouldn't-"

"Shut up." Ruby slammed her hand into the table, warping the metal. "Just shut up."

"Ruby," Yang reached for her.

"You too!" She snapped. "I'm going to say stuff and all of you, just, actually listen to me, for once."

Blake nodded.

"Nobody actually listens." Ruby paced around the room. "When Weiss was almost murdered, Professor Goodwitch didn't. She said that it was the lesser evil, that it was better to do that than let a single Anathema run free. Considering what I've done so far, maybe she was right.

"When I finally talked to Professor Ozpin, after we fought that Anathema at the docks, do you know what he did?" Ruby didn't give them any time to respond. "He ignored me. He knew what I was saying was correct, that what had happened was wrong, and he ignored me. All because I didn't have a solution to his problem. All because I didn't have any idea what could be better than what already existed. He refused to even let me try fixing it, let alone think of something himself."

Yang cringed.

Ruby laughed. "Actually, you know what, I do have a better idea now. I can tell who an Anathema is just by listening to their Aura… If either of you or Weiss had trusted me, then maybe I could've told him that. If you trusted me at all, maybe we wouldn't be here right now because I would've been able to come up with a plan that didn't involve pushing Yang to the point where she revealed herself."

She sucked in a breath, shuddering from her chest to her stomach. "But, no. You didn't trust me. You still don't trust me even though I can literally see the future and tell you what the best choice is. I told you that letting the Atlas caravan through would be bad… and here we are."

"And you." Ruby turned to Winter. "You also refuse to help, even though you could. Even though I asked for your advice, you refused. Why? Because 'I'm dangerous' and don't 'think about things'. What about all of the people who are dying right now, not because of my curse, but because we have to spend so much time running that we can't help? Do you ever think about them?"

Winter shivered ever so slightly.

Ruby turned on her heel, sending a wave of rose petals flying into the room. "I hate this. I hate it so much. All I ever wanted to do was become a Huntress and save people.

"You want to talk about the greater good? Right before I attacked Beacon I spoke to the goddess of war, Mars. I asked her for help." Ruby turned back to Winter. "Do you want to know what she said? She said that the gods didn't care about us, that we weren't worth helping... She also said that if I reunited my team, I could end the threat of the Grimm… forever."

"She also said that I could stay with her, in the city of the gods, and never have to worry about any of this again." Ruby leaned back, _opening her ears to the sick decay encircling them._ "It was a paradise so much better than even Beacon that I don't know how to describe the difference. But, I still came back. Because if I didn't then I'd be abandoning Blake, and Yang, and Weiss, and Pyrrha, and everyone else that would ever be at risk from the Grimm. I could've left everyone behind and ignored all of the stupid… arguing and fighting and never actually getting anything done."

"I must sound crazy right now." Sobs wracked her breath, but Ruby pushed the tears down. "I'm not like Weiss; I don't know what to say to actually convince people of anything or the things I'd need to do to make them realize that what they're doing is wrong. The only way I can make anyone listen to me is to hold a gun to their head… Just like..."

She turned back to Yang. "Just like you keep telling me not to. I know it's wrong, I shouldn't make decisions for people. But… I don't have any other way to actually convince them. What am I supposed to do? Just watch them make bad choice after bad choice without stepping in?"

Something scuffed the stone behind her.

Ruby whirled around, one hand on Crescent Rose.

Maroon stepped back hands up and palms open. "I- I-"

"Go ahead. I'm not mad at you."

"What you said about no one listening." She said so softly it was almost a whisper, eyes flickering from Blake oto Ruby and back. "That's something that we knew a long time ago and had to relearn."

"Who?"

"T-the White Fa-"

"Don't listen to her!" Blake shouted.

Ruby looked back to her. "Blake, back when you were arguing with Weiss, you always defended what the White Fang did. Has that changed?"

"I… I don't think they were wrong, but they went too far... Adam went too far."

"I'm not Adam."

"You're acting a lot like him right now."

Ruby took a deep breath. "Okay… That's… that's probably fair… Umm… From your book, how much do you go into the Faunus Rights Revolution?"

"I…" Blake hesitated, _her aura blazing with power._ "Ruby, this is nothing like that."

"I disagree." Ruby locked eyes with Winter. "The Kingdoms are refusing to listen to reason and stop doing terrible things, even after so many of Vale's Hunters have been disabled that they needed to call on Atlas for help."

"You... " Blake gulped. "You might…"

"Maroon." Ruby turned to her. "You wanted Blake to take control of the White Fang, right?"

She nodded.

"And, Winter, you said that Vale's throne is empty, waiting for me to claim it, right?"

"I did." Winter's face was cold, just like Weiss when she was mad.

"Then fine. If being hospitalized for months won't change their minds, then I need to push them further, but also in a different direction." _Ruby watched the paths before her branch into neight infinite possibilities, then collapse into a pair of choices._

"Uhh, Ruby?" Yang awkwardly smiled at her. "What does that mean?"

Winter spoke before Ruby could. "You'll remove even more of their choice? Actually take control of a Kingdom and declare war on the whole world?"

"No, that's a line I'm not going to cross. I'm not going to make the same mistake the White Fang did." _Ruby grabbed ahold of the threads of Fate she had bound to the Titan's Fist._ "But, them ignoring me means that I haven't used a big enough gun."

 _She shattered the bindings and with them the curse._ "The leaders of Vale aren't really afraid of what could happen. The other kingdoms seem to think that it's okay to continue being terrible just because I haven't cursed them yet."

Yang shuddered. "Ruby, this doesn't sound good."

"That's because it isn't good, it isn't fair, and it isn't what I want to do. But, it looks like asking nicely and hoping people understand isn't an option." Ruby's felt her blood chill as she thought of a map of civilization and all of its weak points, all of the avenues of attack to cause the most destruction. "Winter, how many international shipping companies are there?"

Winter glared at her. "You wouldn't."

"No, but they don't need to know that." Ruby turned back to Blake. "Blake, can you write something for me? I'm pretty sure that if I did, they'd just laugh it off as an empty threat."

Blake nodded. "What is it?"

"A letter to the leaders of the world declaring that Lushezen and the surrounding towns are ours. If any of the Kingdoms or Hunter organization act against us or continue the investigations, then I curse all shipping. No more trade, for anyone, if anyone goes against this."

Blake and Yang looked at each other, _Blake's Aura flaring from the mental communication power,_

"You'll take up the crown then?" Winter raised an eyebrow.

"Nope." Ruby shook her head. "I'd be terrible at it. I don't have the right words and am going to need to spend all of my time building things in order to actually help people. Besides, all of the people worshiping Yang are still there and she's inspiring."

"I'- I'm not..." Yang sputtered. "Ruby, I can't-"

"Yes, you can. We're going to need to do it at some point if we want to actually build more of these towers and save people from the Grimm." Ruby shrugged. "Might as well be now."

Winter shook her head, "It's impossible. You'll have an army of Hunters at your doorstep within weeks and all trade would cease before then."

"That." Yang pointed to her.

"That's fine. Cities out here need to be self sufficient and the three of us can send any small groups packing." _Ruby tugged at several of the other strings that made up the energy of Fate._ "Besides, we have options. If we have problems with food, I'll bless the farmers. If we need materials, we can lead a mining expedition. If the Grimm break something, I can just fix it."

Winter stepped toward her. "It won't be a small group, it will be an army. An army comprised of the best that every Kingdom has."

"You think they'd risk everything to stop us? Leave their people defenseless and allow other Anathema to grow in power?"

"To do anything else would mean the end the world as we know it."

"Well… If they decide to do that, then we vanish. We leave in disguise and… I don't know, re-apply to Beacon, take over another city, whatever." Ruby threw her hands into the air. "I already beat one of Vale's best Huntresses one on one, then two on one with one of Atlas'. No one has been able to pin us down and now that we're together, they never will."

"You'd never abandon those people once you started protecting them."

"No, but it's a good lie, isn't it? This is why I'm not the one writing it."

"I think…" Blake paused. "I think it might work."

"Blake?" Yang gasped. "I… I can't be a god-queen-thing! That would mean letting the demon win!"

 _Ruby looked to the future again._ "It's not going to be painless, but I don't think we have any choice. Not if we want to make a real difference."

Winter's eyes flickered toward Blake, but came back to Ruby. "And what of the meantime? Will you simply allow those currently cursed to waste away?"

"I've already released one of the curses and I'll release the other in…" Ruby paused. "Give me a minute."

' _Hey, Yang?'_ She closed her eyes and thought to her sister.

After a moment, Yang responded, ' _Yes?'_

' _How long do you think it'll be before you figure this tower out?'_

 _Umm… Hard to say, but I figure two or three weeks.'_

' _Got it, thanks!'_ Ruby reopened her eyes. "Winter, if Atlas went after us now, how long would it take for the army to arrive?"

Winter looked at Blake. "Rapid response would be here within three days. The main forces would take two weeks."

Blake nodded.

"Alright, then you'll bring our message to them in three weeks and I'll remove the curse on Vale in a month."

"You'll keep me and my men captive for that long?"

"No, it'll just take you that long to drill into the tower and drive us away from it."

"And if I refuse?"

"Then we vanish early and I don't release the curse."

Winter narrowed her eyes. "No."

Ruby gaped at her. "What? What do you mean no?"

"I mean no. I'm calling your bluff. You wouldn't go through all of this trouble if keeping them cursed didn't offend your own morals." She stepped forward, towering over Ruby. "Now that you know how bad the results are, I expect you'll release it within the month anyway."

"I- I- You-" Ruby raised her hands toward Winter's throat, fingers grasping like they were claws. "I hate you so much."

"If such little barbs are all it takes to get under your skin and ruin any of your lies, then they never had the chance to succeed in the-"

Yang's fist slammed into the side of Winter's face, launching her into the wall.

"Yeah, no. No more of that." Yang held a hand out, pulling the woman back to her. She grabbed the neck of the medical dress, hauling Winter off of her feat. "If you don't believe her, then how about this.

"I'm not a good person. When a demon came up to me and offered me power, I didn't even think about what it might mean before I said yes. I've already sold my soul to hell, so I really have nothing to goddamn lose."

She tossed Winter to the ground again. "Do you wanna know what the little voice in the back of me head is telling me to do right now? Hmm?

"Well, too bad. I don't care if you want to. It's telling me that I could take you and claim you as my own, right now. I'm not going to because… well, a lot of reasons, but that voice is always with me. It's always telling me that I'm not doing anything right. I should kill more people when they offend me. I should seduce people just because I can. I should… storm the gates of heaven and burn it down… That one, usually less relevant, but let's pretend heaven is Atlas."

She lifted her heel up and slammed it to the ground. The iron table exploded into shards of molten metal. "There go the gates. I'm in and I'm going to give every single politician or general or CEO the exact same scar I gave you. The one that if you ever attack me will explode and tear your throat out. It won't disrupt trade, it won't directly cause everyone to die, but I'm damn certain that no one will ever dare attack us again."

"You would die if you attacked any city."

"So what?" Yang shrugged. "It's not like we have great lives right now, always on the run. Besides… if you kill me, then this power is just going to go to someone else."

"Yang?" Ruby squeaked. "What do you mean?"

"I… I know a lot more about the Anathema than I probably should. The power comes from some sort of extra soul we're given and when we die, this soul seeks out a new person to give power to." Yang said, voice going back to normal. "So, there's your choice. You can either work with us and try to make Ruby's plan work, or I can go on a rampage and either terrify the entire world or die… giving the power to someone who might actually listen to that little voice every time it speaks to her."

Winter put a hand on the ground, pushing herself up. "Very well. I'll make sure to let my sister know that I have you trapped within this tower, along with what will happen in a month's time."

Ruby looked at Blake. "Is she lying?"

"No…" Blake continued in thoughts. ' _I think she might respect both of you a lot more now. Though, she also still thinks you're too dangerous to let live.'_

Ruby looked at Yang, then shrugged. "Good enough… umm… Also, Blake, please tell me you're okay with this. If you're not, I don't think it'll work at all."

She sighed. "I'll get to work on the letter."


	25. Chapter 3-i

Would eye shadow be appropriate? She wondered, staring in the bathroom mirror. She wasn't that good at putting it on and her teammates worse than useless… Especially her partner. If he ever saw her like this, urgh.

The brush felt heavy between her fingers. She could match her hair and dress, or her eyes.

She looked at the greens she had. She had one that went with the dress, but clashed with her hair. She could try to lighten it up, but… no, that was a bad idea.

Then again, would the restaurant care? Would _she_ care?

Probably…

It would at least be noticed.

She sighed and went back to the closet. There was only one good dress. It was not the most useful gift she'd ever been given, but it was probably the most expensive. A shiver ran down her back as she ran her fingers over the silk. Maybe… after this date… she'd be able to wear it again with...

No, that was hoping for too much. Besides, this one needed to go well first.

She had a couple of accessories that could work, a pair of earrings and a bracelet, but they were so much cheaper. The most expensive and impressive things she owned were... Her eyes drifted over to the dual sheaths on her dresser. How would she have her weapons while wearing it?

She could strap them to her thighs, but the skirt would be too short. The ends would fall to almost to her knees and ruin the flare at her waist. Her blades weren't elegant, so she couldn't just wear them openly, unlike, say, a masterfully crafted rapier or a dust summoned weapon.

With a sigh, she turned back. Either of them would have a much easier time with this. They were beautiful, elegant, able to command a room without saying a single word. If they were challenged, the fool would be left sputtering. She'd have to force whoever it was to not notice with her Semblance and that would give her such a headache if she had to keep it up all night.

If she didn't want to look like some sort of thug, she'd have to leave her weapons.

The knob rattled in the door behind her. She spun around, stepping next to her dresser. Her teammates were supposed to be on a mission all weekend. Had someone caught them?

The steel handles were cold under her fingers.

If it was Hunters, would she be able to get away? If it was, had they already caught…

The door opened.

"Cinder?" Emerald gasped, putting her weapons down. "You're already done?"

Cinder stepped into the room, brow furrowed. "Yes."

Emerald flinched back. "I- Are our…"

A blush crept to her cheeks as she realized that she was standing in front of Cinder… in her sexier underwear… with just the two of them in the room.

"Are our 'friends' doing well?" Emerald smiled, forcing herself to sound normal.

"No. They're still fighting over who's side to be on after the breakup." Cinder met her eyes, glance not flickering down for a moment. That was their code for the White Fang still being caught between maintaining Adam Taurus' methods or breaking away.

"Great." Emerald didn't need to keep the annoyance from her voice. "Do you think they'll still want to talk to us?"

"They don't have enough people to really throw parties anymore."

Emerald nodded. That meant that she really needed to get Weiss to gi… to… _join them._ That was it, she had to bring Weiss on board with the plan and then they could still be… something… together… or at least, something, hopefully.

"Has she spoken about the end of last semester yet?"

"No, whenever I brought it up, she just went quiet."

"You've had weeks."

Emerald shuddered. "I can try again tonight."

"Do so." Cinder _finally_ looked somewhere besides her eyes, raising an eyebrow. "Where exactly are you going with her?"

"The Valeia Bistro. She said to dress nice and"- Emerald pointed to the dress -"this is the nicest thing I have."

"I see…" Cinder opened her scroll, scowling at the screen after a moment of typing. "That dress is appropriate for such a venue."

She looked over Emerald again.

Emerald smiled, clasping her hands in front of her.

"What about training with her group? Have you made any progress there?" Cinder's eyes bored into hers.

Emerald looked away. "She hasn't offered. I've just been training with her… alone."

"Doing what exactly?"

"What we used to do." Emerald whispered. Right after Cinder saved her, they spent almost two months sitting in a room together, staring into each other's eyes. Cinder assaulted her mind with every spell she knew until Emerald could resist them. "She's… terrifying when she wants to be."

"Well." Cinder's scowl turned into a smirk as she walking up to Emerald. "You wouldn't want to keep her waiting."

"Of-" Emerald gasped as Cinder's fingers ran along her waist.

"Emerald." Cinder pressed into her side, whispering in her ear. Her body was warm, even though her arms were frigid. "Such diligence deserves a reward, especially when you were so uncomfortable with the idea at first."

Emerald stood completely still.

Cinder ran a finger up her belly. "Take as much time as you need. I'll still be up when you get back."

She drew the tip of her finger up Emerald's chest, then neck, ending just below her lips.

Emerald shivered, nodding very slowly.

"Now then, while you get dressed, go over everything she's done to you, in detail."

* * *

Cinder waited for almost a minute after Emerald left. When Emerald appeared in the window, walking in the courtyard with the Schnee girl, she looked at the 'empty' bed. "I know you're there."

Neo appeared on her own bed after a moment, in her black haired disguise.

"How much of what she said was accurate?"

Neo raised her hand and wobbled it.

"Show me."

She pulled out one of her new scrolls. The first was a short clip of Weiss staring at a shuddering Emerald, then embracing her. That had not been part of what Cinder did during their training.

"How often has she done that?"

Neo held up three fingers.

"Anything else?"

She played back one of their discussions. There was something off about it. The words were innocuous, but Emerald's responses had too much intensity for what was being said.

"What about the group? Has Emerald ever joined them?"

Neo shook her head and swapped to another image. It showed a picture of Weiss Schnee, Coco Adel, Sun Wukong, Neptune Vallies, and Penny Polendina walking into training room together.

"Has Nikos broken with them?"

Neo shook her head, then held her scroll up with one hand; with the other she mimed crushing something.

Cinders arms rumbled, growling. "I see. And Valkyrie?"

Neo swiped to an image of her in Weiss' office.

Cinder nodded. It was a connection, but not of the same sort. "Does anyone else behave like Valkyrie does?"

Another shake of the head.

It could be a coincidence then, but she couldn't afford to assume that any more. Any plans would need to include the girl as well as the rest of Schnee's group. "I'll assume that you haven't gotten anything useful recorded."

Neo tapped her scroll again.

"Ahh, that's just… so unfair." Sun's voice echoed as Schnee danced around him, casually deflecting the attacks of three others. "How can you be that… oh wait… nevermind."

Cinder watched the battle for almost a minute. The girl was not only able to weave between three opponents at once, but also lecture them on their technique in the middle of fighting. Impressive, but not enough for a student who had been forced into the second investigation her freshman year. Her movements were barely outside of what a mature Huntress was capable of. The video would not cause the panic she needed if released to the public without a lot more proof.

"If your first recording had survived, we would have no issues." Cinder closed her eyes, considering the likely outcomes of each plan.

She had made a mistake, a mistake that might prove fatal. If Neo had heard correctly a few weeks back, then Weiss Schnee was not the person who killed all of the Grimm surrounding Beacon, it had been the goddess Mars. That meant she'd sent Emerald up against an Anathema who was not focused on sorcery and combat, like they'd assumed, and that Ozpin didn't have a secret weapon they couldn't directly fight against.

Everything that had happened since they arrived at Beacon was consistent with that notion.

"Follow them to the restaurant and record everything." Cinder needed to know if she'd completely lost Emerald before planning any further. Neo could replace her for certain roles, her Semblance was more versatile in many ways, but Neo could not be trusted to act with the correct intent or goals.

Neo made a gagging noise, proving the point.

"Are you incapable of such a simple task?" Cinder formed a fireball in her palm.

The girl sat up, shaking her head. She held up a picture of Emerald on her scroll, then clasped her hands. Bright pink hearts floated from her eyes as she blinked at the ceiling.

The flame stretched with a twist of her fingers, shattering the illusion with a whip crack and revealing that Neo was still lying down. She gulped, eyes white as she slid off of the bed.

Cinder held Neo in a glare until she left the room. The feeling of hunger vanished from her arms as the girl ran away. Only then did she go back to the window.

Emerald and Weiss Schnee were standing near the fountain, very close to each other. Emerald was smiling, laughing… Cinder's arms growled as she grit her teeth.

She glanced at the tower. What remained in the Fall Maiden was in there, somewhere. She could feel the void deep in her soul; half of a flame that yearned to be whole again.

Cinder shot a glare back to Weiss Schnee. If she wasn't responsible for destroying the Grimm, then she could still be beaten down.

No one would take what was hers away from her.


	26. Chapter 4-1

Nora groaned, dropping her head onto her sorcery book. She'd gone over the sacrifice section so many times the words on one page were starting to bleed into the next. None of it made any sense.

According to the book, the point of it was to free you of your limitations. Then it went on and on about what some people gave up. Each and every one of them was defined by how much they wanted the power and were willing to do _anything_ to get it, including giving up the reason why they were looking in the first place. Not all of them were like that, there were plenty of missing hands and people who gave up drugs, but two in particular kept coming back to her.

The first was a famous model, someone who wanted to learn a spell so they could keep their looks forever. He worked for years, desperate to find a meaningful sacrifice, only succeeding when he gave himself a giant scar on his face. There was a ritual that called for blood that could've come from anywhere, but he knew what it needed to be. After he had the power, he didn't heal it, even though he could've.

There was also a woman who had worked herself to the bone all of her life, taking on whatever job she had to in order to keep her family ahead. She wanted another edge, a skill that would guarantee her a job. She started learning sorcery, but after years of effort, never managed to learn it. Then, one day, she walked away from her life and family to wander in the desert for a year. By the time she came back, they had moved on… and so had she.

The thought of that made Nora's blood run cold. She needed to learn sorcery so she could keep her team safe from the Anathema; she couldn't give up on caring about them. That would defeat the point of learning!

But… It was also supposed to be about removing your shackles and…

She glanced at Ren's bed. It was pristine, so well made that it was like a comercial. He was at his super-secret late-night martial arts again.

Jaune and Pyrrha's beds were also empty.

"Urgh." Nora sighed and leaned back, chair going up on two legs as she put her feet on the desk. Her scroll said it was getting close to ten… which meant…

The doorknob started rattling.

Would it be Jaune, Ren, or Pyrrha?

She leaned all of the way over, watching it upside-down as it opened.

Pyrrha stepped in, waving. She wasn't in her combat gear this time. "Hello."

"Heya, Pyrrha. No practice tonight?"

"No, I was meditating by myself," she said with a sigh. "It was… not very productive."

"Why not?"

"I reached a wall that I couldn't go past." Pyrrha paused, "No, a limit would be a better description."

Nora raised an eyebrow.

"I suppose the best analogy would be slowly increasing the weight I was lifting until I could no longer move the bar." Pyrrha clenched her fists and looked down. "I need to push my limits further, but don't have the energy to do so without her assistance."

Nora gulped. "What exactly are you and Weiss doing together?"

"She's been helping me meditate..." Pyrrha paused for a suspiciously long time. "By feeding energy into my Aura so that I have enough to push past that wall."

Nora flipped back around. "So, like, with sorcery? She can do that?"

"I believe so… Yes."

Nora glanced at the sorcery book. If she learned it then she could make people's souls stronger?!

"Nora, what are you thinking?"

"Nothing!" Nora yelped. "Definitely not thinking about using unlimited magical power to turn all of us into Super-Hunters with giant muscles and wings and eyes that can shoot lightning!"

Pyrrha chuckled. "I don't think it would be that easy. She has to focus on the spell the entire time and I don't think anything that… different… would work well."

Nora huffed. "Ruin all of my fun, why don'cha?"

"Well, I suppose being able to fly would be nice."

An image of a bloody angel surrounded by green fire flashed in Nora's mind. "...Yeah."

Pyrrha looked away for a while. "Have you figured out what you will do?"

"For what?"

"The… sacrifice?

"Not really" Nora frowned, looking away. "I mean, I'm pretty sure I know what I should do, but… no. I'm not gonna give that up… I can't."

"Is that not supposed to be the point of the sacrifice? If I'm not mistaken, it's supposed to be something important to you.."

"You're not wrong. I need to give up something that's holding me back, but… I don't want to stop caring about all of you, my team, my friends. That's why I'm learning it in the first place."

Pyrrha sat down on her bed, clasping her hands on her lap. "Is that what you really think you'd need to do?"

"What else is there?" Nora grabbed the book and tossed it to Pyrrha. A couple of pages turned when it landed on the bed. "Just look at the examples. All of them are terrible, or… well, they'd be terrible for the person before they learned."

"And you believe that the only choice is one which would make you not yourself anymore?"

"Yeah." Nora brought her knees to her chest. "I need to do this if I want to have a chance against the Anathema. I need to do this to keep everyone safe. What's the point of that if I stop caring about them? What's the point of doing this if I'm no longer me?"

"That's a good question." Pyrrha said softly, "I've had to ask myself the same thing."

"Why? You're not learning sorcery too, are you?"

"No." Pyrrha shook her head. "But, part of what I'm working on might change me. There is… a technique that we found that can empower someone, but… I may not be myself after it's complete."

Nora stood up. "And you're okay with that?!"

Pyrrha nodded. "Yes. It's necessary for me to be… relevant. I may lose parts of myself in the ritual, but that will be worth it for the ability to make a real difference."

Nora stared at Pyrrha, her pulse pounding. That's what she should have been saying. "Is this the Ruby thing Jaune was talking about?"

Pyrrha looked away. "Yes. I know how you feel about her, but-"

"Pyrrha." Nora cut her off. "I've been there."

She frowned.

"I know what it's like." Nora shuddered. "How it feels when she looks at you and says to do something. The way that her voice echoes in your ears every day and night, always in the back of your head even years later. The way that a smile, a single word of approval fills your heart with joy. Like the mom you never had who's always there watching over you and pushing you to greater and greater heights no matter what you think about it."

 _She could see the first day of training when she did the most pushups._

"Nora!" Pyrrha grabbed her shoulder, shaking the memory away.

"Sorry." Nora panted. "Sorry, but yeah, I get it. I know that it feels right and that you just can't help it."

"This is not the same as what happened to you."

Nora bit her lip. She needed to remember that those weren't Pyrrha's words, they were the Anathema's. Pyrrha needed to find her own path through them. "Okay, but if you ever want to talk about it, I'm here."

Pyrrha took a deep breath. "Thank you for the offer, but can we focus on your issue? I think I've figured out a potential solution."

"Whatcha got?"

"Well, it is supposed to be about changing and freeing yourself from your limitations, isn't it?"

"Yeah?"

Pyrrha paused for a moment before meeting her eyes. "Wouldn't you say that, even though it was terrible, you gained a great deal of skill and discipline when… _it_ happened?"

Nora sucked a breath in through her teeth. "I guess."

"Wouldn't that dedication be useful when learning sorcery? You can take the good parts without the bad."

Nora shivered as she took a breath. No, that was…

After a second breath, she held her eyes shut. She knew that this was Ruby talking, not Pyrrha. It wasn't something that she should do… but it also sounded possible. She wouldn't need to give up on her team… but…

"You don't need to worry!" Pyrrha raised her hands, eyes wide. "There may also be other options."

"No, no… It's… it's fine. I'm fine..." Nora calmed her mind, pushed it back down. "You… might be right."

Pyrrha nodded slowly.

"It's an idea. Not a… terrible idea…" Nora forced a smile. "So, thanks."

Pyrrha smiled, then folded her hands in her lap. "I hope you find your path soon."

Nora turned back to her desk and pulled open her scroll. She had ten new messages with more coming in every second. Each one was a link to live news about… "Pyrrha… They're doing something."

"What?" She gasped. "Already?"

"Already?!"

* * *

"You ready for this?" Ruby asked as she adjusted the crown of brass on Yang's head. The green flames surrounding her made the metal shimmer, drawing even more attention to the textureless-blackness that her hair became when she went full-demon.

"Not really." Yang sighed, fiddling with her scroll as she went over the speech again. "You're sure that it's the best choice?"

 _Ruby looked to the future for their potential options. Their path would be unhappy in the short term, but good in the long._ "Yeah."

 _She also looked for risks, for any potential danger, again. There was nothing._

Yang stepped back, slowly turning. Her armor wasn't Ruby's best work, but it was good enough. The base was a dark brown long coat that haphazardly turned to black by the time it reached her waist, the line was rough thanks to the gravity Dust that infused the leather being burned in by Yang.

It was cut in the same style as the Colorless Empress', with a very un-Yang covered chest and high collar. The off-center buttons made it a lot closer . The Dust-infused steel plates matched the burned color as they rose up her body, runes shining in the unsteady light that Yang was casting. The same runes made the dragon pauldron seem like its mouth had an inner glow that spilled down the plates on her left arm. One arm being protected was so impractical compared to both, but it was Yang's armor so it was her choice to make.

"How do I look?" Yang briefly closed her eyes, then crossed her arms and scowled. The scarf, taken from her normal outfit sort of ruined the image, but it was also important for today.

"I'm really not the person you should be asking about that." Ruby shrugged as she fiddled with her cloak, looking at the others gathered around them instead. Her own armor a bit heavier than expected. All she was supposed to do was replace her corset with a full breastplate and the top layer of her skirt with steel bands, but that also meant rebalancing everything else and wearing a shirt thick enough to not risk tearing whenever she moved.

So, she kept replacing more and more, along with adding in wires that would eventually be attached to motors, until she covered her chest and arms in metal and had to run a second section of wires down, so her legs were also plated to keep the wires safe… not that they did anything… yet. It wouldn't be as good as the suit Doctor Oobleck had been working on, but it was a good baseline and ran off of her Aura instead of an external Dust furnace.

"You look great. Very menacing." Blake stepped out of the side room, buckling her new and improved sword to the outside the heavy white coat. The thick sheath kept the awful, terrible metal from being audible even if Blake, for some reason, felt like using it 'felt right'.

"Rawr," Yang growled with an eye roll.

Ruby shuddered at how it felt to forge and focused on how everything else looked.

They'd painted her symbol within a circle on the back of the coat in the same color blue that the old White Fang flag used. She'd picked out a regular leather top and pants that Ruby infused with Earth Dust, for some level of extra protection, because of how heavy the vetoed steel pieces were.

It was heavy because their enemies would be attacking with Aura breaching weapons and techniques, but Blake was refusing to be practical.

"Any other opinions?" Yang surveyed the room.

"You are radiant, Lady Yang. I'm certain that they will see the greatness of your vision soon." Carmen, now Yang's High Priestess, bowed low.

"Yeeeeeah." Yang drew the word into a chuckle. "I don't think greatness is going to be what they're thinking about."

Carmen raised an eyebrow.

"I'm going for more of a… don't fuck with us speech."

"That isn't likely to endear you to the kingdoms."

"It isn't meant to. I just need to make them scared enough to stay away while we work."

Carmen bowed her head again. "The appropriate use of fear is one of Lady Luna's teachings. Though making enemies that you don't need isn't advised."

Yang closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Of course."

An older man, the city's mayor, opened the door and stepped through after a moment of hesitation. He gulped as Yang turned to him. "E-Everyone had been assembled."

Yang rolled her shoulder, as she stood up straighter. With a flap of her wings and a sudden exhalation, she stepped forward. "Okay… let's do this."

"...Yeah." _Ruby listened to the sounds of the world as she stepped up._ She dragged her heels as she walked toward the door.

Blake nodded, _her Aura a net of songs that surrounded her. Everything that she needed for her role was ready._

Yang flung the doors open, stepping out into the morning light. Ruby followed behind, to the right, while Blake was at her left. They were in front of the city hall, a podium waiting for them.

They'd spent a month working on this. A month Ruby spent more time sleeping on her workbench than in her bed. Yang had stopped sleeping entirely so that she could study more of the tower each day, all in preparation for this moment.

Yang stepped up to the podium, taking in the crowd gathered before her. The square was packed full of the people of the city they'd saved… the city that they were about to claim.

"I don't think we need any introduction. Each and every one of you already know who we are… know what we are." She flared her flames brighter, making the crowd take a step back. She chuckled into the mic. "You don't know how right that fear is.

"For all of my life, I dreamed of being a Huntress. Of traveling across the world and saving people from both the Grimm and the Anathema. I didn't know how strong they were, just that they needed to be stopped before they destroyed everything that I knew and loved." Yang spoke with a calm, even tone.

Ruby's eyes flickered to the tallest building where a glint of green light reflected back at them. ' _Sniper. Top floor of the blue building.'_

' _You were right.'_ Yang replied, not missing a beat of her speech. "When I became one, accepted this terrible power, I didn't know what to think of myself. Weren't Anathema supposed to be evil spirits taking over people's bodies? That couldn't be further from the truth."

"Liar!" A man in a loose robe shouted from the crowd. "No Huntress would ever-"

Yang spoke over him. "All of you have been lied to your entire lives by people who thought that not knowing would make it easier. Ask any elite Hunter who goes after the Anathema. They all know the truth. They've been murdering children for centuries to stop any from getting too strong. And, you want to know another terrible truth?"

The man quieted down. Two others pulled him back.

"They were right. For the past few months the entire world has seen just how right they were." Yang gestured to the side. "My sister, The Girl in Red, brought the kingdom of Vale to its knees all by herself. If she wanted to, she could destroy Atlas, the kingdom with the biggest and strongest military, but she doesn't want to do that. Even with all of the lies and hatred thrown at her, Ruby is still a good person."

Ruby looked away. Even if Yang thought that was true, it wasn't. She wasn't a good person anymore. The crowd's shaking, quick breaths… terror… was proof enough of that.

Yang held up a hand, igniting it with sickly flames. She flexed her fingers, making the fire dance with each movement. "Simply put, your protectors have failed you. They allowed the three of us to grow so strong that we can't be stopped.

"Just the other day, I took on an Atlas battalion, led by Winter Schnee, for fun." Yang grinned, but Blake's slight flinch made the lie obvious to Ruby. "And it was fun, for a little while. Then she fell, just like the rest."

The color drained from several faces. Those who looked like they were ex-military whispered to each other, exchanging wide-eyed glances.

"To those of you lying in wait for the chance to attack… Go ahead. Try me! Maybe, just maybe, you'll be worth a couple minutes of effort."

She stepped to the side and spread her arms wide. "I'll even give you a chance. I won't use my Aura."

Ruby grit her teeth and _checked for danger again_. Nothing.

The sniper's reflection in the window shifted. A bright red missile streaked toward them, shaking every window it passed.

Yet, Yang didn't move.

Ruby's left hand shot forward, stopping at her waist; every muscle tensed as she fought her instinct to blast it out of the sky.

Yang vanished from sight as a fireball bloomed from right above her heart.

Silence fell over the crowd as even the dissenters held their breath.

As the flames died down a soft chuckle echoed in the square. Yang, scarf reduced to ash, leather armor smoldering, stood firm, exactly where she had been before the impact, proof that her Aura had been down.

' _Ow.'_ Yang mentally groaned, not letting any pain show.

' _Was that worse than my test shot?'_ Ruby had left an enormous bruise, but Yang was fine the next day.

 _Yep... I'm pretty sure it broke a rib… or two.'_ Yang shook her head at the building as she stepped back to the podium, pulling the flames away with the wave of a hand. "You see, I give you the best chance you'll ever have of killing me and you can't eve-."

Another shot roared from the building.

Ruby snapped a finger up, _drawing a line of violence_ between it and the round, raining fire and metal down upon the crowd.

 _She traced the path of another shot,_ her phantom bullet bouncing off of each fragment and turning them into a shower of harmless sparks.

The crowd surged away, people screaming like they were the targets.

Black and purple shadows erupted from the window as Blake's Aura sang from that far away.

Ruby hadn't even noticed her leave.

Blake reappeared on the stage, a circle of blood on her forehead, the same sign that appeared on some of the golden Anathema. She had a man and woman in tow.

She tossed both to the ground in front of Yang.

"As I was saying!" Yang shouted, flaring her Aura until the city was covered in green light. "You had one shot and it didn't do anything."

She picked up the mic and walked up to the pair. "Where are you two from?"

"Nowhere." The woman snapped.

"Really? Because a gun that powerful doesn't come from nowhere." Yang crossed her arms. "Who sent you?"

Ruby felt a flicker of weight surrounding them _and smashed through it, forcing them to speak._

"The Menagerie." The man responded. As far as Ruby could tell, he wasn't a faunus.

"That's a lie." Blake narrowed her eyes.

"Prove it."

Yang looked at Blake, then back to them. "Was it Vale? Atlas? Mistral? Vaccuo?"

"Vaccuo." Blake confirmed.

"Huh…" Yang shrugged. "I would've expected Vale or Atlas."

Yang turned back to the crowd. "I'm sure you all want to know what we're here for. Well, we sent each of the kingdoms a warning about what would happen… and what would happen if they came after us."

With a _pulse of her Aura,_ he flew to her open hand, fingers coiling around his throat. Yang shuddered, briefly closing her eyes.

"You see, my sister is a good person." Her hand erupted with flames.

The crowd's shrieks of terror drowned out his cries.

The woman lunged for Yang, only to meet Ruby's elbow. _When the weight of a choice surrounded her appeared, Ruby forced the woman to stay down._

"I'm not." Yang held him, flames continuing to burn while people turned their eyes away from the stage.

"It's the best choice. You know it's the best choice." Ruby whispered to herself, allowing her grimace to show. She pushed the sights and sounds away. They only needed to do this once, then they'd be safe.

The body hit the ground, gasping for breath.

"But, I'm a merciful Queen... and Ruby wouldn't like it if I killed someone for a simple mistake." Yang almost stuttered the words. "It's not your fault that your leaders failed to heed my warning."

His hands carefully touched his throat, running over the ugly scar.

"If you ever attack me or mine again, that scar will explode," Yang said as she walked over to the woman.

"No, no!" She tried to run. Yang let her get to the edge of the stage before pulling her back.

As she flew through the air, she wailed. When the flames surrounded her, the man started to move.

A green light pulsed from his scar. He trembled, sweat dripping from his face.

Yang threw her next to him.

"I'll repeat the message that we sent to Vale, Atlas, Mistral, and Vaccuo." Yang walked back to the podium, allowing the Hunters to creep off of the stage. "This city is ours. If anyone attacks it or us, then we will seek out everyone responsible; every politician... every headmaster; and brand them as well.

"The Atlas army chased us for months… and failed. Your greatest sorcerers have attempted to break our curses… and failed. If you ignore this warning, then you will fall."

Yang looked at Ruby, then stepped back.

Ruby crept up to the microphone. "I am releasing the curses that I placed on Mistral and Vale. Your Hunters will be free to fight again. But, if you ever start up the investigations, and I will find out if you do, then I won't just hit the Hunters. If you have anyone you want to test as Anathema, you can send them to us. We can tell you what they are."

A woman from the front slowly raised her hand.

Ruby looked down at her. "Yes?"

She flinched back, stuttering as she spoke. "I-If they are Anathema, what will you do?"

Ruby looked at her teammates. ' _If they're bad…'_

' _Yeah.'_ Both nodded.

"There are bad people in the world who need to be stopped… need to die. If that person is bad, then I'll stop them myself."

The woman's eyes flickered to Yang. "O-Okay."

"But, that's not all that we're going to do."

She backed up slowly.

"We've designed a defense system that will keep you safe from the Grimm." Ruby pointed to a section of the walls that was under construction. "While we're here, we're going to rebuild your walls and make it so that you never have to live in fear again."

Hundreds of eyes stared at her.

Ruby smiled and stepped back. The smile didn't help. "That's all for now."

Yang nodded and turned on her heel. Ruby and Blake followed her back inside.

Carmen bowed to them as they entered. After a moment of hesitation, the mayor did as well.

"Uhh, y-your majesty?" He stammered. "What commands do you have for me?"

"Urgh." Yang groaned, tossing the crown to the side. "First off, it's just Yang unless we're in public. Second, I like this place, keep doing whatever you were doing except when we need things."

He slowly nodded.

"Right now, I need a bucket, a barrel of whiskey, and a map of the city."

"O-of course?"

Blake stepped up next to her and raised an eyebrow.

"The bucket's for my breakfast because of"- she waved her hand behind her. -"that, the whiskey's for me, and the map's so we can get everything fixed as soon as possible."

"Yang," Ruby stepped up. "I'll take care of the map. You go drink with Blake."

She turned around eyes watering slightly. "Thanks, sis."

Ruby slid over to the old man. "So… how do you think people'll feel about giant spikes of iron?"

He whimpered, glancing to the door.

It was going to be a long day.


	27. Chapter 4-2

The elevator dinged as it opened. Weiss raised an eyebrow as Qrow and Taiyang entered Ozpin's office.

"You got something to say?" Qrow scowled.

She smirked. "I just glad that you chose to join us for such an important meeting."

He glared at her, stomping off to the opposite side of the room.

Taiyang sighed, following Qrow. "Do we really need to be here right now?"

Professor Ozpin said from his desk, most of his body obscured by floating images. "We have a report to make to the Vale council about how they should respond."

"Yeah, I get that, but do you really need _us_ "- Qrow pointed from himself to Taiyang -"for that."

"I value your opinion as a Huntsman and as the person most familiar with the… sources of our current issue."

"God dammit." Taiyang swore under his breath.

The image of a grey haired, heavily bearded man with the name Leonardo lit up. He had an enormous bookcase behind him, befitting the headmaster of Haven Academy. "Considering the... er... nature of the threats. It would be best to know how seriously there are about following through."

"I already told you that they wouldn't have said anything they weren't committed to." Weiss interrupted.

A second image, Headmistress Locasta of Shade, also flashed. The old woman wore 'traditional' sorceress robes that were covered in pockets. "We all need to make a choice about how we respond."

"It would take a strong argument to change my mind," General Ironwood said from the side.

"I'm aware." Professor Ozpin sighed, turning to her. "Miss Schnee, if you would be so kind as to explain to everyone."

Weiss stepped closer. "Is everyone aware of the full situation?"

"They both have more knowledge than you do."

"And of my own situation?"

"Yes."

"Then this will be a lot easier." Weiss smiled for a moment, but let all of her frustration seep into her tone. "They only called me once over the past few weeks. I told them it was a terrible idea and, when they decided they were going to do it anyway, helped them phrase this in a way that will lead to the fewest problems."

It was only partially a lie. Her teammates had 'been too busy' or 'were in a dead zone' for weeks.

"You thought this would have the fewest problems?" Qrow punched the window hard enough to make the panes shake.

"Compared to establishing themselves as the worst type of Anathema, which would have needed to be taken out as soon as possible, yes." When she saw the confusion on his face, she continued. "Their original idea was an empty threat for Ruby to curse international shipping, like she did to the Anathema Hunters, if they were attacked."

The room fell silent for a moment.

"I have confirmation of this from a Specialist who confronted them as well." Ironwood stepped up.

Qrow pulled out a flask and took a swig.

Locasta frowned. "I'm wondering… why are they going to such lengths now? What changed?"

"They've been on the run for months. One week of tracking duty and I know I'd want a shower and a nice bed." Qrow mumbled, mid gulp.

"That doesn't explain why they didn't simply re-enter society in disguise," Leonardo said slowly.

"Ruby, Blake, and Yang each wanted to be a Huntress." Weiss stepped closer to the desk. "They want to help people and they want to do it as themselves, not with false identities."

"To not only seek triumph, but also glory." Professor Ozpin shook his head. "If they were more subtle, then we would not be in this situation in the first place."

"Precisely." Weiss nodded to him. "They found something that might help a lot of people and had no method of accomplishing it without revealing themselves. Thanks to all of the pursuit, they also decided that they would need to have the strongest position they possibly could."

"Leaving us with this." Ironwood laid his scroll down and a map of the area around the city they'd claimed appeared. "Leo, Locasta, can you two see the map?"

"Yes," both said after a few seconds.

"What are you proposing, James?" Ozpin folded his hands over his cane, thumb running over the handle.

"After speaking with Winter, we have a better idea of what would be needed to harm them." He pulled up several weapons profiles. "When they fought, Yang was able to take fire from an automated energy defense system that almost immediately forced her into revealing her mark. The Hunters who ineffectually attacked her were using fifteen-millimeter rounds."

Weiss nodded.

"With that in mind, the thirty-millimeter anti-air cannons that I've had the fourth army reinforced with should be more than sufficient."

"Sufficient for what?" Professor Goodwitch stepped up as well.

"A long-term blockade combined with cutting the region off from the CCT network." With the press of a button, a number of marks appeared on the roads of the map. "If we can get approval from the Vale and Mistral councils to deploy the third and fourth army, we'll be able to shut down all land and air traffic. Hunters from the other kingdoms patrolling the forests would ensure that they can't send any runners out."

Taiyang stepped up and took a look at the map. He tried to speak, but the breath was caught in his throat. "Y-You're going to starve them..."

"Precisely." General Ironwood nodded. "We can't take them on directly without risking horrific collateral damage. If we announce our intention and give every civilian living there a few days that they can leave by, we'll deny the Anathema a power base. I doubt that any of the three would be willing to keep people there against their will. And, when people start starving, they'll break."

"That means torturing thousands of people for-"

"For our own survival." Ironwood cut him off, then looked to Ozpin.

Professor Ozpin closed his eyes and took a slow breath. "James is correct. We've been placed in a situation where there is no good choice.

"If I thought that Miss Rose was capable of such spite"- He glanced at Weiss -"then I would assume this was an intentional statement. She always objected to the idea that she would have to make such decisions."

"Kids her age shouldn't have to." Qrow grumbled under his breath.

"Be that as it may," Ozpin continued over him. "As far as I can see, James' plan has the greatest chance of success so long as we keep drastic measures off of the table."

"This isn't drastic?" Taiyang shouted.

"No. It involves neither attempting to use Anathema made weapons against them nor calling on a Maiden to destroy the city. Not that the later is truly an option at the moment."

"We're seriously considering this…" Taiyang slumped over. "They need to d-die that much?"

"Yes." Weiss cross her arms as she met his eyes.

"You agree with this?"

"There are no other options available. Allow Anathema to take control of a city and hold the world for ransom? Do you believe, for a second, that people would accept acquiescing to demons?" She paused for a moment, waiting for him to open his mouth. "And before you say 'we could just tell them the truth', think about how many people have died to keep the Anathema from taking power. Revealing that people's loved ones have been killed for far less than what Ruby or Yang have done? That is not an option."

"I wasn't going to say that." Taiyang looked away. "I thought you cared about them."

Weiss resisted the urge to smile. "I do."

"But you just said they needed to be killed!"

"If the kingdoms are going to survive, then they cannot. This plan would force the eventual fight into a situation where the greatest strength of the military, massed fire, would be able to be brought to bear."

"Uhh…"

General Ironwood stepped up. "After the perimeter is established and the window to leave closed, anyone else going in or out would be indiscriminately bombarded."

"Fucking hell." Qrow swore under his breath. "You goddamn…"

"Go ahead, say it." Weiss kept her expression neutral.

"You goddamn heartless bastards." He turned around, throwing an arm wide. "You're just going to kill whatever innocents it takes to-."

"It's the only way that you'll have any chance against either Ruby or Yang. You can't go after Blake anymore... unless she lets you."

"And we're just supposed to sit here while you tell us that?" His hand went to his sword. "You say you care, but you still suggest this. What's your angle?"

Weiss arched an eyebrow. "I could ask you the same thing. Logically, the two of you would most want them to survive and yet, you accuse me. Yes, I care about them, but I also care about the preservation of society."

"Qrow," Professor Goodwitch spoke for the first time. "I've been watching her. She's had numerous opportunities to contract them and, while I'm certain that she's taken quite a few, yesterday did not feel like an action that Miss Schnee would have any involvement in if she could help it."

"I still say there's something else going on here." Qrow gestured with his flask. "Something we're overlooking. They're too smart to just let Atlas surround them like that."

Assuming none of them had, somehow, heard Blake's complaints about Yang's diet of pinecones and poisoned berries, he was correct.

"Would they go on the offensive to stop the deployment?" Locasta asked. "They might see it as an attack."

"While it would go against their displayed character, I've taken that possibility into account." General Ironwood highlighted several cities on his projection. "We'll begin by reinforcing nearby cities, to prevent any panic from calling the Grimm. When Salem launches her own assault, we'll be able to begin deploying immediately."

"You're sure she'll do that so soon?" Leonardo's voice quivered.

"It would fit how she's acted previously." Professor Ozpin sat back down, laying his cane on his lap. "She'll have tried to recruit them by now and, assuming they refused, send her men after them."

"That much I can confirm," Weiss said. "A man by the name of Tyrian, who worshiped her, attacked Blake and Yang for rejecting his goddess' offer."

"The result?"

"They killed him and discovered a very _interesting_ species of Grimm in the process."

The room waited for her to continue.

"According to Yang, Tyrian attacked them with invisible hornets that she could only harm with her Anathema abilities. Ruby confirmed that she'd seen those before… floating around Beacon without anyone the wiser." She met Professor Goodwitch's eyes. "The issues with demon summoning come from these attacking the demon, rather than a flaw with the spell."

All eyes moved from her to Professor Ozpin.

"D-did you know about this?" Taiyang stammered. "Invisible Grimm surrounding us?"

"I did and there is a reason why I haven't informed anyone about them." Professor Ozpin closed his eyes. "There is nothing that we can do to fight them, not in any real capacity. Very specific spells can ward a small area, forcing them to become material or shooing them away. I've maintained such a spell on my own office and specific parts of the vault, in case she can observe via the Grimm."

"There's no way to fight them and they're always around us?" Leonardo whispered so softly that his mic barely picked it up. "At any time, she could..."

"She could have wiped us out at any time… if that was what she wanted." Professor Ozpin continued. "But, human extinction would not further her own designs: fear, despair, corruption… worship. Those are what she seeks."

"Why didn't you tell us?" General Ironwood slammed a hand on the desk hard enough that the holo display flickered. "We've been vulnerable this entire time!"

"And vulnerable we will remain. It is better to not know of the sword hanging above our heads than to let it consume your thoughts and restrict your actions." He looked at each of them. "How many conversations are you replaying now, wondering what she may have learned or how she could use such knowledge? How many plans that have helped were hatched in such meetings? Do you worry that a Beowolf will overhear your plan of attack and change its strategy in response? These are no different."

"Ozpin…" Locasta sighed. "If what you say is true, then all that we have been working toward is pointless. She has an unstoppable weapon at her disposal."

"No, a weapon requires a hand to wield it." He shook his head. "Miss Schnee, what did they say happened after he died?"

"That the Grimm stopped attacking."

"Which is precisely what occurred when she tried to kill me with them." He rolled the cane in his hands. "So long as humanity continues to serve a purpose for her, she can't use these Grimm indiscriminately, not without going against her own objectives."

"How do you think she'll attack?" General Ironwood was fixated on his map.

Professor Ozpin took a moment to respond. "I suspect that one of her agents will try to enter the city soon. Once the tension reaches its highest point, a Behemoth will lead the attack, along with the agent calling on the invisible ones as soon as battle is joined."

"If that happens, then we'll be able to sweep in during the fighting." General Ironwood modified the placement of several of the fast assault units. "Specialists with air support would be there in minutes."

Weiss kept a close eye on the map. It would be Blake's night for a detailed dream. Neither Ruby nor Yang were good at identifying threats like that.

"On the topic of the Enemy," Weiss drew their attention back to her. "This will give her ample opportunity to come after us as well. We need to make a decision about who to ask to become the Fall Maiden before she acts."

Professor Ozpin drummed his fingers on the head of his cane. "While you may be correct, I have to question your timing. Between the other major decision facing us and your revelation of the Grimm, there's already a lot to think about before we consider the candidates."

Locasta's voice was ice. "Candidates that you've done your best to poison."

Weiss huffed, crossing her arms. "I would hardly call training poison."

Professor Goodwitch pulled out her scroll. "Pyrrha Nikos, who you spend every third day working sorcery on for several hours. Nora Valkyrie, who you are tutoring in sorcery and is about to make her sacrifice. Coco Adel and Penny Polendina, who both know a great deal about the Anathema and have joined your training group. Lastly, Emerald Sustrai who you appear to be dating as of last night."

"I haven't hidden anything that I've been doing. Due to this, each of them is much more prepared for the risk of an experimental spell to attach what is effectively half of a soul to their own. However, if you're that worried, I'll stay silent until a decision has been reached." Weiss shrugged and walked past the desk. She leaned on the wall to Ozpin's side, clearly in view of anyone who would look at him.

"Thank you." Professor Ozpin glanced at her, then turned back to the others. "Leo, what were the results from your search?"

"Missus Arc said that she could not risk being out of commission again." Leonardo sighed. "There are a couple of other students who might be potentials, but there are problems with choosing either."

"There is one girl for me, but her Aura isn't quite strong enough," Locasta said.

Taiyang sunk down. "Dammit, it's gotta be one of the kids then."

"The only other person who I can think of has similar problems, Winter Schnee." General Ironwood glanced at Weiss.

Weiss frowned slightly. While Winter would help her personally, there would be issues with the rest of her team.

Qrow stopped drinking just long enough to say, "I've got nothing."

"Very well." Professor Ozpin pulled up images of each. "I feel that we will need to assume each of them is equally influenced by Miss Schnee. Otherwise, we'll spend too much time trying to quantify that."

The others nodded.

"With that in mind, I will speak last." Professor Ozpin turned to Professor Goodwitch.

She crossed her arms and closed her eyes while she thought. "Coco Adel. I would normally say that Nora Valkyrie would be the best choice, but her impending sacrifice adds too many unknowns to the equation."

"Couldn't she just cut off a finger or something?" Qrow grumbled.

"Technically yes, that would be a valid sacrifice as far as the lessons of sorcery are concerned." Professor Goodwitch eyed Weiss. Everyone else followed suit.

Weiss shrugged in response.

"However," Professor Goodwitch continued. "she has the impression that it needs to be a significant change to who she is and, as far as I can tell, the sacrifice is more about the person in question than any hard rules."

The eyes turned back to Weiss, with much more ferocity.

"While some believe that a great sacrifice will pave the foundation for a great sorcerer," Locasta could have frozen water with her tone. "Any modern school would regard that as the height of folly."

"Great." Qrow blew his bangs out of his eyes. "Well, I'm still gonna say Valkyrie. Even if she's gonna change, her head's in the right place about the Anathema."

"Pass." Taiyang shook his head. "This is just..."

"Very well." Leo began with a slight hesitation. "I believe that Miss Sustrai can both handle the power and understands subtlety well enough to keep herself from being caught."

"Subtlety isn't everything. We need someone able to use the power to do what has to be done." Locasta shook her head. "Nora Valkyrie. It could be said that this risk and the pain associated with the procedure would be a great sacrifice."

Weiss kept her expression neutral.

"Penny Polendina has the strength of Aura and character. However, thanks to her 'friendship' with Ruby, I can't recommend her any more." General Ironwood said slowly. "I agree with Glynda. Coco Adel is our best choice."

Professor Ozpin took some time to finally respond. "I stand by my initial assessment. Miss Nikos had the discipline, skill, and temperament. Though, this does put us at an impasse. Does anyone have any new arguments or evidence for their prefered candidate?"

Weiss paid attention to the ensuing debate, remaining silent.

When someone brought up her prefered choice, she shifted her expression very slightly and _drew a slight amount of attention with a pulse of Essence_. If one of the worse choices was getting attention, _she revealed a sliver of fear._ It was too weak to make anyone stumble, just enough to send a shiver down the spine of Sun, Neptune, or Penny while they trained. The men and women who ruled the world wouldn't have such an obvious reaction.

Ruby or Blake would've been able to catch on immediately, but a normal person shouldn't be able to notice. The only potential issue was Professor Ozpin, who always seemed to see more than he ought to. But, even he didn't have eyes in the back of his head.

Merits were considered, potential moral failings discussed, but the didn't truly matter. The division between them that she had needed to create was present.

The first to fall was Emerald. Between her vision and the awful 'relationship' with Cinder, Weiss made sure of that. It wasn't even hard considering Coco was just as good at keeping secrets and already had two people supporting her.

"I suppose that Ozpin has the best idea then." Leonardo sounded almost pained when he gave up for exactly what Weiss had hoped for.

Either of the other three could work, but her dreams had told her who would be the best choice. They'd also been preparing for it.

Weiss' made her touch a bit heavier as Professor Goodwitch and Professor Ozpin began their own discussion. She took a slightly different approach, obviously approving of Professor Ozpin's choice in a way that could not be missed.

That was enough. Professor Goodwitch switched to Nora, stepping over to Qrow's side.

General Ironwood met Weiss' eyes, held the gaze for a moment, then looked to Professor Ozpin.

The sides were even. The room heated up.

What had been a calm debate grew fiery without Weiss needing to say a word. General Ironwood and Qrow needed little prodding to begin hurling insults.

"You gonna bend over for her too, Jimmy?"

"I'm not the one who's lack of judgement lost us several Maidens."

"You lying, son of a-"

"Everyone!" Professor Ozpin silenced the argument by lifting his cane and slamming it back to the ground. "There is a simpler method of us coming to a consensus than continuing this."

"What? Asking her?" Qrow spat, pointing over his shoulder at Weiss. "She's the reason we're having this fight."

"No." Professor Ozpin looked over to one side. "Taiyang, you did not wish to choose earlier, but now have the tiebreaking vote. Unless you want us to give it to Miss Schnee."

He looked at Professor Ozpin, then to her.

Weiss arched an eyebrow and looked him in the eyes. He'd seen her before. He already knew who she wanted, but that wouldn't matter. It was all about giving him a reason. All that she needed to say was communicated with that, one gesture _and a burst of power. 'Who is most likely to help your girls?'_

Taiyang looked away almost immediately.

"Come on buddy," Qrow took a step toward him. "You see what she's doing. You know what's right. We'll find a-"

"Give me a minute." Taiyang mumbled. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temples while his mouth moved, without saying anything. Everyone else stayed silent, until he finally spoke. "Pyrrha Nikos."

Qrow stared at him, groaning. "Tai!"

Professor Ozpin stood up. "Does anyone have any other objections which would disqualify her?"

He waited for a moment.

"Very well. I'll inform her about this myself." He turned to General Ironwood, then Weiss. "If you would prepare the machine to scan her, we should take what little time we have to ensure nothing goes wrong."


	28. Chapter 4-3

Pyrrha adjusted her tiara as she sat down in front of Professor Ozpin's desk. She'd only been to his office once before, when they were debriefed about the Anathema. The afternoon sun made it bright and welcoming, not like the morning when she had to avoid looking at certain windows.

There were a small number of things that she could think of which this meeting might be about.

"Thank you for coming so promptly, Miss Nikos." He sat down behind his desk, coffee mug in hand.

She smiled, folding her hands in her lap. "It isn't every day that the Headmaster himself calls upon you."

"Well, I do try to speak with our most promising students when I have the opportunity."

"Thank you. Though, I would hardly call myself the most promising."

"Nonsense. While modesty may be a commendable, so too is an accurate appraisal of one's abilities."

Pyrrha looked away, staring out the window at the grey sky.

"You are one of the most talented and driven students that I've ever had the pleasure to have attended Beacon." He tapped his mug on the desk, drawing her eyes back. "I dare say you could give most professional Hunters a run for their money."

"I don't… If you say so..." Pyrrha closed her eyes and tried to push the heat rising to her cheeks away. She wasn't anything special, not compared to either Ruby or Weiss. "Is… is there another reason that you asked me to come here?"

"There is. Tell me, Miss Nikos, what is your favorite legend?"

"Legend?"

"Story, myth, fairy tale." He shrugged. "However you would prefer to think about it."

"I would say that…" Pyrrha paused, considering all of the options. "The story of the Girl in the Tower. I feel like her determination is the most important part. How she continues to face the demon's trials, slowly passing them despite failing for years. It seems like a good lesson for anyone taking on a challenge that seems insurmountable."

"Would it surprise you to know that 'The Girl In the Tower' was based on an event that truly happened?"

"Slightly. I can't think of many reasons why someone would kidnap a young girl and trap her on top of a tower."

"The 'demon' was actually a god who had been testing several maidens."

"To determine who to give his blessing to?"

Professor Ozpin grimaced. "To determine who to make his bride."

"Oh." Pyrrha shuddered. "That… rather changes the meaning of the story."

"Indeed. I prefer the modern rendition. The moral is strictly superior."

Pyrrha nodded.

"However, it is not the only legend with a basis in reality." Professor Ozpin paused for a moment. "Are you familiar with the Story of the Seasons?"

"Of course." Pyrrha smiled. "Four young women come upon a gruff old hermit in the woods as they're travelling. He rebuffs them, but they do not give up on him. Each of them bestows a gift upon him: the reflection of winter, bounty of spring, warmth of summer. Autumn begs him to look at all that he has and be thankful for each.

"Their kindness warms the man's heart and be responds with an offer of his own. He grants each of the maidens a great power to help everyone in Remnant. They continue their travels, sharing these gifts with all."

"Would it surprise you to know that this one was also built on truth?"

Pyrrha cringed. "Please tell me it was a different truth."

Professor Ozpin mirrored her expression. "The old man was a god, but the gift was genuine. Not only were they granted the power of the seasons, but that power still exists today."

"I see…" Pyrrha held her lips together tightly. "Is this the reason why you called me here?"

"A very apt guess." He nodded, folding his hands on the table. "One of the mantles must be transferred to another person before its bearer perishes. I would ask that you be next in line to receive the power of the Fall Maiden."

"I accept."

He blinked at her several times. "Pardon me, you accept? You haven't heard anything about what this entails, what risks you may face."

"I assume that it would be a risky procedure that may cause the same sorts of changes as becoming a sorcerer."

"You…" He sighed. "Did Miss Schnee explain exactly what would be involved to you?"

"She did."

"Including the part where the ritual involves surgically attaching another soul to your own?"

A shiver ran down her spine. "N-not exactly. That sounds… a bit more… umm… dangerous than I expected, but it does not change my answer."

"Hmm." He frowned. "That is problematic."

"I- What do you mean?"

Professor Ozpin looked at her with colder eyes than she'd ever seen on him. "Miss Nikos, I just told you that receiving this gift would entail attaching a soul to you. This is no mean feat and yet you're only a bit rattled. Why do you want this power?"

Pyrrha tried to look at him, but couldn't maintain eye contact.

"You immediately agreed to this, without knowledge of the risks. Then, when I revealed something that would give anyone pause, you maintained you agreement. This implies that you would want such power despite the risk. I must know, why do you want it so badly?" He paused. When she didn't respond, he continued, "If it isn't for yourself, then who would you seek power for?"

"It isn't about having the power…" She took a deep breath. "It's about… becoming more than I am…"

"What do you mean?"

"I…" Pyrrha closed her eyes, considering what to say. In some ways… no, in most ways, it as much more important to convince Professor Ozpin of the issues than any member of her team. "What I need power for is to be relevant; for my thoughts to have weight and meaning to others. To be able to make decisions about what is best and see them through with my own hands if necessary."

"Miss Nikos, you are already re-"

"No I'm not and I'm becoming very tired of everyone pretending that I am." Pyrrha snapped, flinching back as soon as she realized how she spoke to the Headmaster of Beacon. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"

He waved a hand to the side. "There's no issue. However, I do wish to know what you mean. You are certainly relevant to your friends and teammates. As one of our best students, Beacon cares about you and how you're doing as well."

"Not where it matters… Not when it matters." Pyrrha lowered her hands to her lap, clasping them as hard as she could. The feeling was a slippery one and she'd never knew how to accurately describe it before, not in a way that resonated, even to Jaune. If he wasn't convinced of her plea, there was no way that Ren and Nora would accept that some Anathema weren't dangerous.

Weiss had definitively proven that she would only take Pyrrha's opinions into consideration when she felt like it due to how freely she'd manipulated Penny and Emerald. However, that wasn't something she could just admit to.

She could never call having another example of what she meant something to be thankful for, but one had been provided which needed no further explanation. When she looked back up, she was able to match his gaze. " _Everything_ changed this morning. Ruby, Blake, and Yang have… done something that I never imagined they would and… and is also not something that I could ever approve of. I'm certain that it made sense to them to terrify so many people, but there had to be another way."

He nodded.

"I was not able to speak to them about this, but I'm also certain that whether or not I approved of their plan it wouldn't have mattered."

He matched her position, folding his hands in his lap. "If you're comparing yourself to the Anathema, then none of us have any relevance. Not as individuals. They overwhelm everyone physically, mentally, and socially if given enough time. They will know you better than you know yourself, tell you exactly what they need to in order to shape your opinions, and, if all else fails, dominate any fight."

He was entirely correct. She couldn't match Weiss in any field. "Last semester, I could fight them. When I spoke to Ruby, she listened to me." Pyrrha shivered, remembering the last time she saw Ruby. Her words had fallen on deaf ears and her actions were so insignificant that they went unnoticed.

Pyrrha raised a fist. "I know that I will never reach the point where I can beat any of them, but… if I'm able to stand in the same arena and compete, then they will need to at least consider my thoughts."

"You speak as if they will live long enough for this to matter."

"They will." She held her fist above her heart. "Lady Mars said that Ruby would lead her team against the Grimm and destroy them."

It took him several seconds to respond. "You're certain that it was her who spoke to Ruby?"

"I could feel who she was in the depths of my soul."

"When one stands before a goddess in her full majesty, they understand what it means."

"Exactly! There was no mistaking it." She hesitated at the thought of how intense such a sight was. If she were to be blessed with the powers of a god, then... "Are you worried about what I would do if I have this mantle?"

"No, you've already shown the sort of character that we would hope for in a Maiden. I am worried that you want to do this for the wrong reason. You say that it is to become relevant again, while ignoring the number of people who already care about you. For those whose choices determine the fates of hundreds or thousands, connections and friendship are vitally important. These are what make us human and allow us to continue relating to the rest of the world." He said, a hint of pain entering his tone.

"If that's so important, staying connected, then why isn't Vale willing to work with Ruby?"

"Despite our knowledge about what she was for the entirety of last semester, no one lifted a finger against Miss Rose until she attacked Beacon. Argued with, yes; attempted to teach, yes; but never fought. We did our best to impress upon her the reasons why we had to take actions she felt abhorrent."

"I'm afraid I don't quite understand what you mean. Weiss was almost killed and both Blake and Yang were hunted as soon as they were revealed. How can you say that you weren't lifting a finger when you were still harming people? If I decide that I disagree with you and use whatever power this mantle grants, would you do the same to me?"

"The Anathema hold overwhelming power over others which cannot be fought against conventionally. To use your analogy, the arena that they stand in is incredibly small to begin with and shrinks further with every day that passes. They cannot be afforded any amount of trust by default, unlike one of the Maidens." Professor Ozpin stood up and walked around his office. He stared out one of the windows, hands clasped behind his back. "While accepting this would allow you to lean on the likes of the Anathema, it would not isolate you from any consequences like their might does. Many Maidens have fallen in single combat before and not even against Hunters. You will have no more ability to rob people of their will than you do right now. Even if all four Maidens decided to try and take over the world, they would not be able to create a situation where only their opinions held sway across the entire globe."

"I… I do not believe that Ruby, Blake, or Yang want to take over the world or make that happen. They want to save everyone."

"What someone intends is irrelevant compared to the result. Even a goal as noble as removing the threat of the Grimm can be corrupted beyond anyone's imagination, having such a negative result that it would have been better to never tried in the first place." His hands shook gripping even tighter.

"Professor Ozpin... " Pyrrha whispered, "Are you alright?"

He slowly moved a hand to his face and wiped his eyes. "My apologies. This conversation has… reminded me of the single worst mistake I ever made."

Pyrrha watched as he walked back, movements far too stiff.

"Miss Nikos… Pyrrha, I understand why you would accept this risk all too well. If I had my way, there would never be a risk of anyone being rendered irrelevant. However, I don't think you realize just how much you already matter."

She sucked in a breath, looking away.

"Please. Take this day to think on what it is that _you_ want to do and who you care about. Speak with your friends, your mentors, your family… In particular, those who have never had any interactions with Miss Schnee."

"I… It's a bit odd that you'd specify her like this." Pyrrha gulped. If she didn't already know that he knew, that would be awfully dangerous.

"She must have known how you're feeling about this and if you're still feeling that way, then she must not have assuaged your worries."

Pyrrha's pulse quickened. That was… she hadn't considered that, but…

"Please, take the time to talk to them, let them know how you feel. There are many people who care about you and you may not be the same when this is over."

She took a moment, closing her eyes again. Even if Weiss had been manipulating her to agree, did it matter? Were her feelings about this incorrect? Professor Ozpin certainly believed the same things.

"I'll…" Pyrrha sighed as she stood up, only speaking again after she'd turned away. "I'll try."

* * *

As the sun fell below horizon and the hallway took on an orange tine, Weiss leaned on the wall across from the main elevator, checking the status of the SDC on her scroll. _An illusion concealed the screen, replacing it with a news article she read at lunch._

The reshuffling of managers had improved overall productivity by five percent with a two point increase in moral. It wasn't the best she could do, but it wouldn't be considered worth investigating further, even without the protection of General Ironwood.

With a flick of her thumb, her notes from each demon summoning session replaced the report. The path to power lay within the web of misdirection that those lions had spun. A new circle of sorcery was within her capacity, if only she could grasp it.

Beckoning any of the greater demons was not a choice she could make without her team around to put it down. Yang would undoubtedly object to doing so, no matter what knowledge was offered. She couldn't imagine Ruby feeling any differently. Blake might understand.

Supposedly, there was a magical tome which would reveal the secrets of contacting powerful demons without calling them into the world. The lions had been a bit too enthusiastic when they told her about it, which meant that it must be a trap of some sort.

That left her with two options: working the principles out herself and prayer.

The first would take an enormous amount of time that she didn't have. The second relied upon the good will of the most mercurial goddess. To make matters worse, she didn't even know if Luna would respond, let alone what she would ask of Weiss in exchange for instruction, assuming such a thing was even possible for her to grant.

A journey to enlightenment was always personal. It was entirely possible that even one of the most powerful goddesses couldn't speed it along.

If the various cults were to be believed, then the best time to perform the ceremony would be at the intersection of two roads during the night of a Full Shatter. It would be a Full Moon in a few nights, which would give her two weeks to prepare. Though, she didn't have any direct knowledge about exactly what a proper ceremony was. Pyrrha's experience and opinions regarding them would be invaluable.

"Weiss?" Emerald called out from the end of the hallway, quickly walking up to her. "Are you busy tonight? I know a little coffee shop just outside of campus that has great cakes."

Weiss smiled, that would be very nice. But, she still had to shake her head. "I'm sorry, but I'm tied up with TAing."

"Oh..." Emerald slumped down. "Well, alright. Maybe tomorrow?"

"Sure." Weiss nodded. She just needed a little more time to convince Emerald of what Cinder was doing to her.

The elevator pinged right before the door opened. The girl of the hour was standing there, avoiding Weiss' glance.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Weiss waved to Emerald as she stepped in, waiting for the doors to close completely before speaking. "How did it go?"

"I think he is disappointed in me." Pyrrha was holding her arms across her body, one hand grabbing the other wrist.

"That's what happens when you blatantly ignore someone's advice."

Pyrrha nodded. "I've already spoken to everyone that I need to. I did so a month ago."

"Mmh." Weiss pulled her key card out and swiped it in front of the floor selector. It immediatly doubled in size. She pressed the very last option, holding it along with the close button for three seconds to override it and prevent it from stopping anywhere else. "Has he explained what's going to happen?"

"Yes." Pyrrha whispered. "You'll be attaching another person's soul to my own."

"It's a bit more complicated than that." Weiss stared at the space between the doors, watching the bars of light move each time they passed another floor. "I'm going to be detaching a construct that's been attached to her souls, hopefully without very much of them clinging to it, and then attaching it to yours."

"Souls?"

"People actually have two souls, but the distinction between them only matters academically in most cases." Weiss flexed her fingers slightly, feeling the increased amount of Essence in the air. "I wouldn't be surprised if most Hunters didn't know about this, let alone the general populous."

"I see…" Pyrrha mumbled as the doors opened.

Weiss stepped out first, leading the way through the dark hall. Pillars holding torches of green flames, less eye-searing than Yang's, lit the way further in. Every six meters, the path branched off, a new hallway veering off into the dark. On rare occasions, they could see something at another intersection. Sometimes it was an obelisk, sometimes a pedestal, in one occasion a spear which had been thrust into the ground.

Weiss continued without slowing. She'd memorized the five unmarked turns she'd need to take to get there the first time they brought her down.

"Weiss." Pyrrha spoke softly, not looking at her, as they approached the first turn. "What is the difference between the two souls?"

Weiss raised an eyebrow, glancing over her shoulder. Pyrrha had her arms crossed, one hand grabbing the opposite elbow and couldn't look at her eyes. "The simplest answer would be that one represents your spiritual strength and the other your personality."

"Your Aura and your Semblance?"

"A bit more than just that, but yes." Weiss slowed her pace down enough to wind up next to her. "Are you doing alright?"

"I'm fine." Pyrrha voice echoed around them from how loudly she spoke.

"You neither look nor sound fine."

Pyrrha frowned, tightening her arms up.

"It's alright to be nervous. We're trying something that's never been attempted before."

"It's not that. It's…" Pyrrha took a couple of breaths. "Weiss, have you been… allowing me to feel bad in order to make me want to do this more?"

Weiss stopped, grabbing Pyrrha's shoulder. "Do you want to stop? We don't need to."

"No!" Pyrrha stepped back, shaking the hand free. "Even if you were, that wouldn't change my mind. I just want to know."

"Very well." Weiss waited, shoulders tightening up more than they should. She continued staring until until Pyrrha looked up and met her eyes. "Yes, I could've made you feel better before. In hindsight, I should've done so, but I didn't at the time because of how important it was for you to be the one."

Pyrrha pursed her lips and furrowed her brow. "What? If you had explained and asked me I would've accepted."

"I know and that's part of the reason why I didn't. I wanted you to come to a decision yourself, without me forcing it either way."

Pyrrha slowly nodded. "It would have been as easy for you to push me further along than stop it."

"Exactly."

"I still don't like this at all." Pyrrha clenched her fists. "Why was it important that I was chosen if you weren't going to tell me?"

"I can't fully explain."

Pyrrha glared at her.

"Simply put, I don't know how I know." Weiss shook her head, briefly considering how that trace felt. "When I figured out who was an option and who would be best, I was submerging myself in more information than I've ever processed at once. I don't know where these insights came from, but you were one of the three best choices in terms of your ability to handle the power and I trust you more than the other options."

Pyrrha took another breath, closing her eyes. "Okay. I trust you, but do not do something like that again."

"Thank you and I'll try not to, but revealing information can have as much of an impact as hiding it." Weiss turned back to the path. Respecting Pyrrha's agency in that regard would be incredibly difficult, but she owed it to her to at least try. "It shouldn't take too long once we're there."

Pyrrha followed behind, now looking at Weiss when she turned around. It took them a few minutes more before they came to the chamber. The dim light revealed a large machine with a pair of person sized pods attached to it. One held a comatose young girl whose face was heavily scarred.

"This is Amber, the current Fall Maiden." Weiss gestured toward her as she walked up to the computers in the middle of the machine. The table of sorcerous tools she'd requested was right next to it. "She was attacked by the Anathema we fought at the docks and had part of her power stolen."

Pyrrha walked up to Amber's pod. "Then... that woman wasn't Anathema?"

"No, she's worse." Weiss started up the second pod. "She's a traitor who's actively helping the Grimm."

"What?" Pyrrha gasped. "But, how could someone do that? The Grimm would just..."

"I received the truth of this very recently. There's a goddess who rules over the Grimm. That woman is a servant of this goddess, as was the person who attacked Blake and Yang."

"I didn't believe that I could learn anything new that would increase my certainty, but that was it." Pyrrha turned back to Weiss with a fire in her eyes. "What do I need to do?"

Weiss pointed to a table off on one side. It had a privacy curtain next to it along with a hospital gown. "First, remove any metal or Aura conductive material. I need to perform a full scan of your souls and figure out the best points to attach the mantle."

"Do I want to know what those are?" Pyrrha set her tiara of the table and stepped behind the screen.

"To be honest, I'm working primarily off of the research Atlas has put into this along with my own instincts and _other_ senses, so I couldn't tell you."

"I see…" Pyrrha waited a moment. "Will we need to worry about her coming back, the not-Anathema woman?"

"No, Blake killed her while we were fighting the White Fang." If Weiss hadn't been sure of that, then she'd have been even more worried about Cinder Fall. The woman who'd ensnared Emerald looked almost identical to their enemy, but her location during both fights was confirmed by Haven when Weiss'd looked into her. She was _just_ an abusive team leader. "I'm certain they're send someone else after us though."

"We'll be ready." Pyrrha stepped out and placed her clothing on the table.

Weiss opened the pod. "The first bit of scanning should take around half an hour, depending on how lucky we are with the imaging."

"What should I do?" Pyrrha stepped into the pod, laying down on the cushions.

"Relax. We need as close to a baseline as possible for this one."

"Would meditating be bad?"

Weiss took a moment to consider it. Pyrrha's Aura had usually calmed down a lot whenever she did that. "No, it might even help."

"I'll do that then." Pyrrha closed her eyes as the pod door closed. The machines whirred to life, a read out on Pyrrha's souls beginning to appear.

Weiss watched the results as they streamed in. Within the first two minutes, the spikes in her Aura settled down to a soft cycle.

After another, there was a spike.

Pyrrha's eyes shot opened and she shouted, but the pod muffled the sound.

"What?" Weiss hit the emergency abort, forcing the lid to depressurize.

The tools on the table next to her clattered. Three shot off into the darkness.

The air around one of the pillars shattered, revealing a small girl with pink and brown hair. The same girl who had fought them at the docks.

Her eyes were completely white, then they were gone. She'd shrouded herself in another illusion.

 _Weiss conjured a glyph underneath her location, making it erupt with flames._ By the time it finished, she was already four meters away, fleeing at top speed.

Pyrrha lept forward, pulling the other tools to her. She fired three more out, but they didn't hit anything. "What do we do?"

Weiss stared at the darkness, considering each of the potential outcomes.

This could have been a scouting mission. If so, letting her get away would grant them victory.

It could have been an assassination. From what she remembered, the girl was more than capable of that. If so, who was the target? Herself or Amber would make the most sense if they knew.

For that matter, it could have been scouting but cutting the girl off at the elevator could result in her killing Amber without them being able to defend her. That would deny them the ability to transfer any part of the mantle.

Pyrrha was the only one able to locate her. If she tried, Weiss _might_ be able to figure something out by working from the principles of her own illusions, but that would take time that they didn't have.

She looked back to the pods.

Weiss needed a couple of hours to scan and perform her analysis. There was enough time to do that if they got the word out and made sure no one could come down, so long as they had defenders here.

Pyrrha had to remain nearby to foil any assassination on Amber.

"I'm going to conjure the thickest dome of ice that I can around you. Keep yourself and Amber safe." Weiss began laying out a circle of glyphs. "I'm going to get Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch. We finish the ritual tonight."


	29. Chapter 4-4

Emerald paged through a crappy Valish gossip magazine, freshly stolen from a convenience store on the edge of campus. Some famous Hunter-Celebrity pair was in trouble because they got into a fight and people didn't realize the movie star had his Aura awakened.

She couldn't help chuckling. The man was famous for doing all of his own stunts. Did people really think he could just survive walking out of an explosion that blackened bricks?

"What's so funny?" Mercury asked from his bed, nose almost touching his scroll.

"Stupid people being stupid."

"Heh, not hard to find those around here." Mercury turned his scroll to her. "Check this out."

A video of last week's training match was playing. He rewinded to the portion where Weiss knocked three of her enemies to the ground with an ice slick. Then rewound and repeated it, again and again. "Your _girlfriend_ sure knows how to put on a show."

Emerald's lips trembled. Weiss wasn't her girlfriend, yet. No matter how hard she was trying, but just saying that would mean letting him win. "At least I have one, unlike some people."

"Hmmm…" A truly diabolical grin spread across his face. "Well, I suppose I'll just let our dear boss know that you're happy with your new girl. Maybe she'll need someone else to-"

"You jac-" Emerald stifled her statement with a growl.

"So greedy." He chuckled, going back to his scroll. "It's a good thing you're better at stealing money than hearts."

"Fine, you win this-"

The door was flung open, crashing into the wall.

"Both of you, get ready. Now!" Cinder barked, walking straight to her closet. She threw the blazer of her uniform to the side as she moved, unbuttoning her shirt next.

Emerald jumped up and went for her own, purposely not looking back at Cinder. Mercury joined her, skipping any commentary.

"Neo, mask us." Cinder ordered, followed by the girl snapping her fingers. As soon as the illusion settled into place, she continued. "We've discovered where Ozpin is keeping the Fall Maiden. Bring everything you may need."

Emerald finished putting her combat outfit on, weapons on the small of her back. While the others finished, she filled her speed loaders with Dust rounds.

Neo simply picked her parasol up.

Mercury only needed to put his greaves on.

Cinder thou… Cinder went into the back of her closet and pulled out _the dress._ The red and gold, Fire Dust infused and Orichalcum gilded dress that she brought out when it was serious. It also showed off most of Cinder's legs and back.

"We're going to a classroom first, to finish preparations and ensure that no one will get in our way." Cinder wasted no time leading them out. "Neo, if anyone sees us..."

As the crept through the dark halls, Emerald tried to push down the pain in her gut. She wasn't hungry, that was an all too familiar feeling; it was something else.

Tonight was the night that they'd accomplish what they came here for and finish taking the power of the Fall Maiden from Ozpin. Cinder would become even more powerful, more incredible. But… Emerald was sure that Weiss would be involved somehow. She knew too much and was too important to be just a freshman.

Weiss had also been kinder to her than anyone... except for Cinder…

Her mind went back to their date. Weiss immediately picked up on how she ate and guessed why she ate so fast. The rich girl knew enough people who'd gone hungry that she knew the signs and… and made sure that there was an open tab for whatever Emerald wanted. Weiss had even asked if they wanted to go to a different restaurant for dessert when she realized the menu options were not to Emerald's liking.

Cinder hadn't done that for her, but… _that was fine_. They had an important mission and money was tight at times...

Even though they _always_ had enough for extra-high quality Dust so that Cinder's sewing projects would be simpler. _Surely some of that could be spared._

Emerald grit her teeth and pushed it down. Weiss might be nice, but she owed Cinder her life. Cinder was her… her everything… _Even if Cinder would never feel the same way toward her._

She held her eyes shut for a few seconds, then reopened them. She just needed to stop thinking about it.

They reached their destination soon enough. A classroom with a single window that had the curtains drawn. It reeked of metal and ash, a smell which only got stronger as they approached the center.

"You had fun without me… again." Mercury groaned staring at Salem's symbol painted on the floor in red.

Neo preened with a smile that wouldn't look out of place in a bad horror movie.

"You can argue about who gets to kill someone later." Cinder pulled a vial from the sleeve of her dress. "Take you positions around the circle and be ready to repeat the prayer."

Emerald dropped to her knees, the stench of dried blood becoming even more overwhelming. As Cinder spoke in that odd language, Emerald repeated every word. Her voice echoed with Mercury's. Neo, of course, said nothing.

As their voices grew louder, a dark mist began seeping out of the center of the symbol. It expanded into the room, giving Emerald goosebumps wherever it touched her skin. So much appeared that she started shivering.

A chill wind ran over her back as the mist suddenly sped inward. Emerald kept her eyes down, well aware of what would come next.

Salem's voice echoed around them, dripping with what Emerald could only guess was annoyance.

Cinder responded in the same language. Emerald could practically hear the plea in her tone, an utterly alien sound for her.

Salem's reply was sharp. She pointed at the blackboard, then the floor. The only word Emerald recognized was a name, Ozpin.

Cinder was standing with her head bowed, hands clenched at her side so tightly that they were shaking.

Salem's features eventually softened as Cinder continued. The goddess raised a hand and more mist spilled out from her dress. The black cloud flowed over to the curtains. After a moment, she turned, looking at Cinder. The next words were short.

"Neo, make this room seem like it is empty to the outside. No lights, no sounds, no people." Cinder stared at Neo until the girl nodded. "Lady Salem has graciously accepted my prayer and will be blessing us for the fight ahead. She will also cast a spell that will allow us to move without being obstructed."

She looked from Neo to Mercury. "Do not look at the sky after she finishes or harm anyone who has become entranced by it."

Emerald took a deep breath as the mist swept around her. The chill seeped into her skin, her muscles. She tensed up as it settled in; cold, but somehow making everything feel better. She could only hope that Weiss would either be caught in whatever Salem did or would be off campus. If she was really with Ozpin…

* * *

Thunk-clang.

Thunk-clang.

Thunk-clang.

Nora used the rhythm of Ren's training to time her breaths as she sat, focusing on the Fire Dust crystal in front of her. The air in the forest was cold enough she could see her breath, but she barely noticed thanks to the heat flowing up her arms. She wiggled her fingers, feeling for the energy that she knew, from reading books, was there.

Her hands found only normal warmth.

"Urgh." Nora opened her eyes, glancing over at Ren punching another tiny disk out of his sheet of metal. "Is it getting any better?"

He sighed and held up the most recent one. It was more of a weird octagon-star thanks to all of the jagged points. He flicked it into a tree with another thunk.

"Well, I'm not really getting anywhere either so I guess we could jus-" Nora sputtered to a stop as the sky lit up. "R-Ren!"

He turned around, following her pointed finger.

A beam of white light was shooting out of the center of campus. It rose higher and higher into the sky until it lit up the clouds from below.

Then it exploded.

A brilliant light lit up the forest like a new sun, slowly fading as Nora blinked away the spots in her eyes.

"Nora, do you see that?" Ren stepped next to her, pointing at the spot where the light exploded. The stars above campus were brighter than normal and… and they were moving. The entire sky was swirling around the main tower with some new pattern in the center of it.

Nora squinted, but that didn't help her make it out. "I'm gonna sneak up on it."

"You're going to sneak up on the sky?" Ren crouched next to her.

"Well... you're gonna sneak up on it and I'll follow your trail." She drew Magnhild in grenade launcher mode. "It'll never see us coming!."

He nodded with a sigh before slowly moving into a bush. Nora followed right behind, eyes flickering to the sides to keep watch. She caught a couple of squirrels running around them, but nothing threatening. The only sounds she could hear were the noises she made: boots scuffing dirt, leaves rustling, the rattle of her extra grenades. Even as they came up on the edge of campus, nothing.

Beacon didn't have too many people walking around most nights, but there was always someone making noise, even if it was just blasting music too loud. As they continued forward, there was no music, no partying, no shouting, no anything.

Nora's grip tightened on her weapon, finger pointing along the metal piece right above the trigger. The air around them was different, like something she'd only felt twice before. It hummed with power greater than any person should ever have.

She licked her lips as her pulse raced. It was the same as last semester… It was the same as her first real fight… her first kill. When they reached the edge of the forest, she rose with her weapon pointed.

There were two people moving just outside of one of the buildings. They were students from Haven who hung around Weiss a lot, but just Weiss. They were abs and pie-face; the faunus who didn't know how to button his shirt and the blue haired guy who Nora hit with a pie during a food fight. Both of them were looking down and carrying someone looking up at the…

…

Nora gasped, slamming her elbow into whoever was covering her eyes hard enough to send him flying.

"Gah." Ren coughed. "Nora!"

"What? Ren?" She spun around just in time to see him hit a tree. "Oops… What were you doing covering my eyes like that?!"

"You got caught by whatever that it." He pointed up without looking.

Nora started to follow his fingers, but managed to stop herself before she looked at the sky again. "That's… that's just evil. It's so natural to look up when you see that."

Ren nodded. "I don't know what to do. I was able to get you out because we're at the edge."

Nora's hands shook hard enough to make Magnhild rattle. She couldn't even fight against it… again. If she could only let go and learn sorcery, maybe she wouldn't've been caught.

"Sorcery…" Nora muttered to herself, pulling out her scroll.

"Nora?"

"Gimme a minute." She called Weiss, staring at the ringing icon so hard that if she could shoot things from her eyes, her scroll would be destroyed.

She got voicemail.

Pyrrha was next since those two were together a lot.

Also voicemail.

"Dammit." This wasn't something she could just figure out herself. She needed Weiss to explain more about whatever it was. Someone else, like Professor Goodwitch or Professor Peach, could do it too, but she didn't have any of their numbers and… and...

Nora shuddered as her blood ran cold. If Weiss wasn't available, there was technically someone else she could ask who would probably know the answer. After all, she'd already done something like this once before.

"Nora?" Ren laid a hand on her shoulder.

Her scroll fell from her fingers. Was that really their only option left?

"Nora?!" He shook her lightly.

"I… I think I know what I need to do."She trembled as she picked up her scroll again. "I need to… get a picture of this and send it to someone who knows more about… this stuff."

Nora turned it to camera mode, closed her eyes, and aimed over her shoulder. She mashed the button again and again, re-angling it each time. After twentish pictures, she re-opened her eyes.

Whatever it was didn't seem to work through pictures.

The stars were definitely moving and there was a weird symbol in the middle. Weird, but also familiar… too familiar. It was a circle with a cross coming out of the bottom.

"Ren, is that what I think it is?"

"The symbol of Venus. Sister of the goddess that Pyrrha worships."

Nora took a deep breath; that confirmed it.

She was right, she didn't want to be, but she was right. There was only one person who might know what was going on. But, could she do that? Just expose herself to that much danger.

She _knew_ what _they_ could do with just words. It would open her up to falling back into… into being just a puppet, a mindless soldier who would kill her own friends if she was ordered to.

Nora looked back at the campus, making sure to keep her eyes down. One of the boys was staring at the sky now and she could see at least twenty more who were looking through windows or coming out of doors to see what was happening. They needed help. She needed to be in control of herself.

One, two, three: she counted her breaths, making each deeper than the last. She knew that she had focus, discipline lurking in her soul. All she needed to do was grab ahold of it, make it hers and use it against… _them_. "I-I'm going to call her."

"Who?"

Nora pulled open one of the first notes that Blake had given her. While keeping it around might've been a little dangerous, she sometimes needed the jog to her memory. The note described someone who she knew about, but the text of the name had been corrupted into random characters. It also had a phone number at the bottom.

Nora punched it in and hit call.

Her scroll rang once, twice, three times.

"H-Hello?" A girl mumbled. "It's like one in the morning."

At least that confirmed that she wasn't here.

"Beacon's under attack again and you're the only one left who might know what it is and… I need your help," Nora said as quickly as she could.

"Wait, what?" Ruby Rose clamored as she finished waking up. "Nora? _You're_ calling _me_ and… and…"

"If you really ever cared about anyone here, you'll tell me what's going on with this picture." She took a breath through her teeth as she sent the best image. As she waited for Ruby to respond, she kept her eyes on the clock. If this took a minute…

"I… don't really know what that is."

"It's another one of the goddesses that you claim to have power from. Another one of you is attacking us and if you don't tell us, I don't know how many people they'll kill because anyone who looks at it just keeps on staring and forgets anything that happened while they were out of it."

Nora felt the warm tranquility from Ren pass over her as she started hyperventilating. After a moment, she started breathing normally. Sometimes his Semblance was the best.

"Give me a second," Ruby said before the sound of rushing wind took over the scroll.

A door slammed and she continued, "Hey, Yang."

"What's up, sis?" Yang's voice was surprisingly chipper for the middle of the night. What horrible thing was she doing to be that awake?

"Do you have any idea what this is?"

"Not reall- Wait a minute."

Nora grabbed Ren's hand and squeezed, not saying anything. His fingers were just as tense as hers.

"It's sorcery, a really old spell. It's supposed to be for entertainment, but only Anathema can cast it," Yang said slowly.

"It's not entertaining." Nora almost snapped, but Ren had given her enough calm to be okay.

"Nora? What're you- nevermind. Look, this thing is sorcery, so-"

"Got it." Nora pulled her scroll back up. "Thanks."

She ended the call before either of them could say something which would control her or Ren. Her heart was still racing despite Ren's help. She wouldn't have been able to do that last semester, asking one of _them_ for information that only they could give without panicking. The idea of it wouldn't have even entered her head, even if...

"Looks like that was useless. We can't do anything about-" Nora turned toward him, eyes going wide. "Ren! Why are you glowing pink?"

"What?" He let go of her, staring at his hand. As it moved away, so did the pink. "What're you talking about?"

"Your hand was…" Nora reached out for it. As her hand came close, the pink glow reappeared. When she wiggled her fingers, the color followed her movements. She pulled all the way back, taking some of the pink with her and it combined with her own glow… which was a slightly brighter pink… that'd be tough to figure out the difference between when she had the time.

The pinks combined with each other, swirling in between her hands and flashing brighter and brighter. Her fingers tingled as the edges of the swirl began sparking, jolting her with electricity. It whirled, expanded, only to be forced back down into a ball by the pink that surrounded her hands. Then, when the shocks got strong enough that she could feel her Semblance kicking in, it exploded.

Nora fell back, flipping head over heels from the blast. Her ears rang as she shook her head, giving Ren a thumbs up when he ran over. He was shouting something, but she couldn't make it out.

She grabbed his arm, pulling herself up. When he pulled back, she was very careful to not grab ahold of his pink. That wasn't something she'd focused on. She'd thought that she needed to know how to put a barrier between herself and other magic, take away the power of spells.

"-at -ppened?" He could barely be heard over the ringing.

"I can fix it!" Nora shouted, pointing at the sky.

She kept her head down and walked forward. A heavy blue fog fell around her the moment she stepped over a line that sparkled when she got near it. It was the aspect of Serenity… or was it energy? Eh, it didn't really matter that much. She raised both hands, extended a field of pink, and shoved the blue away!

For a moment, the air was clear.

Then, the fog came right back in.

Maybe stopping the spell would be harder than she thought.


	30. Chapter 4-5

Coco pushed her glasses up and pulled out a thermos of cold coffee. It hadn't originally been cold, but she also hadn't expected it to take whoever was coming after Weiss three hours to make their play. It made her shiver as it went down.

She held it out to Yatsu, who was with her in the center of their defensive formation, right in front of the main elevator. They both needed space to use their weapons properly, a slash of his greatsword in the hallway would tear through the wall and her minigun needed a clear line of fire.

"No." He shook his head, never taking his eyes off of the hallway that Velvet was hiding at the end of. "I'm already getting jittery."

Coco looked him up and down. The man was a rock, his body still despite the heavy armor. His fingers weren't even twitching. "Could've fooled me."

"I don't like this" He took a quick breath. "We should be out there, helping everyone."

He nodded his head toward the window. A small crowd had gathered at the building opposite them, everyone of them staring at the sky. They'd been that way for almost ten minutes despite Coco texting Sun and Neptune about them.

"Whoever is coming will be going after the central tower. This is their distraction." Coco looked down her hallway, checking on Fox. He was still leaning on a pillar. Her scroll also hadn't received any new messages from her fellow Schnee Conspiracy members.

"It's a good thing you convinced us to watch that movie then."

Coco shrugged. There was no good way to explain Weiss telling her to be ready, just in case, so she needed some sort of excuse to keep them all up. "It was good… Well, no… It was entertaining if you like cars, guns, and explosions."

"I'm not particularly a fan of any of those."

"But you still stuck around."

He glanced away. "Velvet wanted me to watch with you."

"Fox enjoyed it."

"I do not understand how. If the entire point of the movie is explosions and action scenes, how would he…" Yatsu looked down the hallway.

Coco stepped out from behind him. Emerald was walking toward them, weapons on her hips. Her entire team was waiting behind her.

"Hey, Em." Coco waved. As the girl got closer, she raised an eyebrow. "What're you doing here?"

Weiss' plan had Emerald keeping watch on the hangars.

"Well, nothing was happening and I thought I'd see where else we could help out."

"Uh huh." Coco pursed her lips. "We've got everything handled here."

She glanced at Emerald's teammates. There was something about how their leader was looking at her that sent a shiver down her spine. Her eyes were like a Beowolf, slowly circling a defensless child.

"Are you sure?" Emerald looked over her shoulder. "We can give you a break."

"Coco?" Yatsu's hand was slowly edging toward his sword.

"Not happening." Coco hefted her purse.

Emerald sighed. "I'm sorry."

The air around them shattered as a boot broke Coco's glasses.

* * *

 _A sea of tranquility rippled from a single pebble breaking the surface._

 _The water boiled and steamed as the white hot stone sunk deep within._

 _It fell down, all the way down, until it settled in the middle._

 _One by one, cool streams flowed toward it, became warm, became so hot that they bubbled, and flowed away._

 _The surface of the sea bubbled, its own water too shallow to contain all of the heat._

She screamed without words.

* * *

Weiss spared a glance over her shoulder as an orange light bloomed from the hall in front of them. The ice barrier she'd conjured produced another wave of mist as a piece fell to the floor. It was still thick enough for the machines to be obscured from view.

As their enemies stepped into view, she barely resisted the urge to groan. "There are now two important questions we'll have to ask after we're done here."

"Oh?" Professor Goodwitch asked, shifting the shards of quarts surrounding her so that more were facing that direction.

"First, how much of Haven's administration is compromised?"

"Mmh." Professor Ozpin nodded, his skin having taking on an ashen tone from the protection spell he used. "I'll have to speak with Leo about how they missed this. What else did you wish to know."

"Whether or not Blake knows what the definition of killing someone is?" She kept her eyes on the leader of their group.

The woman who was surrounded by a light so bright it was hard to see her. The woman wearing the same red dress that she had when they fought not only at the docks, but also was with the White Fang. The woman who was directly working with the enemy of all humanity.

Cinder Fall had her swords ready when she arrived, flanked by Mercury and Emerald. The fourth member of their team was nowhere to be seen, as expected. When Weiss tried to meet Emerald's eyes, she looked away.

"She was correct." Cinder smirked, staring at Ozpin. She sounded like they'd already won. "Such arrogance, assuming that this feeble defense would be enough to stop us."

He stepped forward, cane held low."I'm certain that you'll find our preparations more than sufficient."

Weiss smiled and _unleashed a wave of terror._ To her credit, Cinder didn't flinch. The only people who had managed that before managed it with pre-warning and extensive training. That she not only resisted it, but was still advancing forward was impressive.

"An old man, a middle-aged woman, and a little girl?" Did Cinder know how arrogant she sounded, especially if she knew what Weiss was?

As Cinder closed, Weiss held her expression still. She was close to their first defense, a warding line of Earth and Fire Dust that blended in with the floor tiles. Even if it wasn't that strong, wiping that smirk off of her face would be worth it.

When she stepped on it, Weiss briefly froze. There was no fire, no explosion. In fact, the small crystals simply vanished like they were never ever there.

Weiss conjured a shimmering blue barrier between breaths. Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch were mere moments behind her.

The image in front of them shattered as thousands of obsidian shards flew past the fake Cinder. They shattered against Weiss' barrier again and again. The only sound that overcame the glass breaking, was the tearing of metal from directly behind her. A simple ice barrier would never be enough to defend against a battlefield scale spell meant to wipe out swarms of Grimm.

When it finished, she was left unharmed, but Mercury had reached the outer ring of their trap. The Dust explosion send him flying toward her.

A flick of her rapier deflected the follow-up arrow from Cinder.

Behind her, the barrier of ice was no more, nor was the soul transfer machine.

"Go." Professor Ozpin commanded.

Weiss looked at Emerald _and unleashed the full force of her terror_ as she engaged Mercury.

* * *

 _Fire beat within her chest, begging to incinerate all who opposed her._

 _Ice formed on her breath, pleading to freeze the foes before her._

But neither was the power she needed.

 _Lightning danced between her fingers, reaching toward her mirror with fingers of its own._

She was incomplete, a deep hollow within her soul.

 _-a beetle flying toward her face from that woman's hand._

She blinked the vision away. It was time to move.

Pyrrha released the hold she had on her armor with a prayer to Mars of her lips and _fell upon them like a bolt of lightning._

The woman brought her weapon up just in time to defend, sparks flying where her blade connected. Pyrrha snapped the arm of the bow in two, lightning dancing on the edge of her sword, but it was enough to turn the blow to the side.

She spun into the ground, wiping her shield at the floating spike of metal to the side and shifting to spear mode. As she turned to her target, she furrowed her brow. The light was strong enough to be painful through her closed eyelids.

A projectile flew from the woman.

Pyrrha snapped the point of her spear to the side, deflecting it into the ground.

A plume of flame came next.

Pyrrha waited for the last moment, calling her shield back. When the fire was about to connect, she leapt forward. Her boots landed on her shield just in time for it to hit the stream of flames.

With all of her might, she kicked off and brought her blade down again, _using her Semblance to stay in the air for far longer that she should've been able to._ The tip connected with her enemy's shoulder as she leapt away.

Pyrrha _focused more power into her weapons_ as she sent her shield flying at the form trying to sneak up on her, this time leaving the metal bar behind. The invisible girl slipped underneath the throw, but a flick of Pyrrha's hand reversed the direction. A thunderclap boomed as the energy that she stored was released all at once.

 _It took her weeks to get that trick down._

Pyrrha blinked the memory of training with… an oddly familiar black haired man away.

"That is mine." Her enemy sent a stream of fireballs to her.

Pyrrha deflected them with her shield as she charged, _channeling the chill of Winter into it to counter the explosion that followed_.

Her foe spun around her thrust, smashing Pyrrha back with a strike to the chest. She rolled with the blow, swapping to rifle mode and waiting for Professor Ozpin to… flail around behind her rather than join the fight? It was like he was fighting an invisible opponent, but Pyrrha knew exactly where that girl was.

Her enemy shouted a word in the same language that Lady Mars spoke to Ruby in.

"Profess-" Before Pyrrha could respond, a wall of small creatures appeared from behind the woman. A harsh buzzing filled the air as they swarmed her.

One, two, three, four: Pyrrha swatted them aside, but with each that fell, another two followed. Step by step, she was forced back, away from the largest threat. Several of their stingers scraped against her Aura, only stopping when a wave of violet energy swept past her,

Pyrrha spared a glance back, opening her eyes. A cloud of Grimm shrouded her allies in darkness that was only broken by flashes from Professor Goodwitch's Semblance.

 _She reached out with her other senses._ Mercury was the easiest to find because both of his legs were replaced with metal. He was fighting Weiss or, more accuratly, holding her off. He wasn't landing hits, just keeping her busy.

Pyrrha grabbed hold of his legs with her Semblance and twisted. His Aura stopped her from completely wrecking them, but it was enough for Weiss to take the offensive.

A flare of energy erupted from _her enemy_ as the shriek of a large bird drowned out all other sound.

Without wasting a moment, Pyrrha grabbed her armor with her Semblance and flung herself into the air. The ground beneath her erupted into flames that ignited the stone tiles, continuing to burn after Pyrrha landed.

She rushed from the blaze, barrelling through the Grimm to reach the woman again. They struck her Aura, but it was so much denser now that she barely noticed.

Pyrrha met the woman's sword with another _shocking_ blow that failed to discharge. Sword and shield flew faster than ever before, empowered by both her Semblance and the hungry flame within her belly. _The mantle of the Fall Maiden wanted to be complete once more._

None of her strikes found their target. The woman flowed out of the way with inhuman precision and flexibility, just like Weiss. Worse, Pyrrha took blow after blow from both the woman and the Grimm.

Pyrrha retreated a step and recentered herself. With Ozpin disabled by something, she needed to end this quickly. With the Grimm draining everyone's Aura, they couldn't afford to spend time waiting for him to dispel whatever was happening.

"Emerald," Weiss' voice rang out over the incessant buzzing. "Do you realize what you're doing?"

There was something that might do it.

Pyrrha opened her eyes, squinting as she watched her enemy. She just needed to wait for the next spell.

"Are you the one affecting him like this?" Weiss was walking toward Emerald and Professor Ozpin. " _Answer me!"_

"I-It's my Semblance. I just need to keep-" Emerald was cut off by the sound of one of Weiss' glyphs appearing. Emerald was flung into the air, then slammed back to the ground a moment later.

Her enemy began moving, the Orichalcum on her dress lighting up.

Once more, Pyrrha launched herself into the air. She spun towards her target, _pulling herself faster and faster with her Semblance._

The wind whipped around her as the first blow landed, soon followed by the second. Her enemy summoned a barrier of blackened flames that flared with each touch. Blow after blow rained down on it, _ice and sparks flying from the magic Pyrrha imbued her weapons with._ Slowly, surely, her enemy was forced down onto one knee.

 _Pyrrha drew deeper, pulling on as much of the power of the Fall Maiden as she could._ Orichalcum and steel rang out against the magic until it shattered.

One more would do it.

Pyrrha grabbed onto her sword with both hands and raised it high. _The heat from within her soul erupted the air in front of her eyes shimmering from the flames she summoned. Just like she should've with the green-haired girl_

With a sharp cry, Pyrrha brought her blade down, forcing the alien memory of trying to kill Emerald away as she avenged Am- _her own_ -ber's attack.

Her enemy raised an arm, catching the edge in the middle of her palm.

Pyrrha's attack continued, splitting the woman's arm in two. She pushed and pushed until the tip hovered in front of her enemy's eyes, but…

There was no blood, no cry of pain.

Instead, the woman was laughing.

And... the inside of her arm was solid black.

"Ahh." Pyrrha flinched as one of the Grimm stingers pieced her shoulder.

"It's unfortunate." The ribbons of utter blackness moved, looping around Pyrrha's sword. "Your first real fight will also be your last."

The arm wrapped around Pyrrha's wrists before she could react.

Her only response was to _draw upon the flames once more._ Her hands ignited; the arm shriveled, but didn't let go.

"No more of that." Her enemy raised her other arm, fingers splayed out like teeth. Within a moment it had shifted, the hand had become a gaping void and the fingers lined with fangs from the tip to the final knuckle.

It wrapped around Pyrrha's belly and the fangs moved. They pierced through her armor, digging into her.

"There we go." Her enemy whispered, smiling. "Now, give me what is mine."

For the second time in so many minutes, Pyrrha's soul screamed out in pain. The burning fire that had attached itself to her was being torn away, bit by bit, it fell into the gaping maw. Other pieces went with them, whatever Weiss did melding them together too tightly.

She screamed without words, without noise. The pain too great to do anything except for shudder.

For what seemed like an infinite moment, but really must have been seconds, she was trapped.

Then, slowly, color returned to the world and her back hit the ground.

Pyrrha opened her eyes, vision blurry. Professor Ozpin was standing in front of her. The woman, her enemy, had been forced back. One of her arms was missing and the side of her dress torn.

The fire within her soul had dwindled to a tiny ember, but it was still there.

The woman took another step back, screaming something. Pyrrha's ears were ringing too much to make sense of it.

Slowly, she stood up, every muscle shaking. Her fingers were so numb that she could only tell where her shield was from the weight.

 _A familiar wave of fear passed over her, making the hair on the back of her neck stand on end._ Weiss must've finished her fights.

Though she couldn't make out her enemy's face through the orange glow, Pyrrha could feel that her glare shifted to Weiss.

The woman took another half of a step back. Someone else shouted, probably Weiss.

Pyrrha closed her eyes and took as deep a breath as she could manage. She needed to know what they were talking about, even if she couldn't join in the fight. The spark within her was faint, almost dead. Softly, she blew on it with what little Aura she'd recovered.

As the energy flowed, the flame grew, ever so slightly.

Pyrrha's heart skipped a beat. It was still there.

She stoked the embers as much as she could while the sound of combat began.

Moments later, _it all came rushing back._

That little ember had become a raging inferno that made her skin tingle from its force.

She took a breath, once more in control of herself, then another.

Pyrrha opened her eyes.

All of the fighting had stopped, each person halfway through a motion.

The light around them was overpowering, just as it had been for the entire fight.

But... it was not orange.

The light was gold.


	31. Chapter 4-6

**A/N: So, there were issues with the chapter when I first posted it.**

 **This is a new version with heavy revisions that's a lot closer to the intent.**

 **Normally I'd just edit it, but there were enough problems and enough revisions that I think posting a new one and deleting the old is a better idea.**

* * *

"You, who have intimately known the darkness of the world, shatter the chains of deceit and become the light of truth,"

A solid circle of gold appeared on her brow, the symbol of the Blasphemous as they were known to ancient Hunters. A poisonous liar that would profess its own blessing of divinity when it truly stole the light from the gods. A vicious beast that, when its Aura was finally broken, would take heavier weapons than an Ancient Beringel to take down. A force of control that only those with the strongest of wills would resist.

According to Tialeth, the proper name was Zenith. From what Weiss knew, Blasphemous was a much more appropriate word. If she ever had the chance to speak to a god directly, she would have so many questions. Between abandoning them to the Grimm and now this: they had a lot to answer for.

Cinder continued her speech with a soft chuckle, "Step forth into the world and bring forth a new age."

Weiss' grip tightened on her rapier. A Hunter, or someone equivalent to them, becoming an Anathema was a deadly scenario. They were always more dangerous than a normal person, able to perform actions that took 'normal' Anathema months to learn thanks to their Aura already having been developed. The Atlas manuals she'd studied had a chapter dedicated to how to survive it, not kill their target, survive and find reinforcements. There should be plenty of teachers, and even some students, who would be more than willing to throw themselves at such a threat.

Considering that Cinder, when she was 'normal', had been good enough for Ruby and Blake to take fighting her seriously, there would be a number of bodies on the floor before she died.

Cinder laughed louder, her voice echoing around them. "A new age… I have been working for that, but this is different."

Given the traditional abilities of the Blasphemous, they couldn't risk allowing her to speak, but they also needed to buy enough time for their own Auras to regenerate. Cinder would have regained everything she already used if it was like Weiss' own Exaltation.

Weiss glanced at her own allies. Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch had been stung by the Grimm, but far too early for their Auras to have broken. Pyrrha had one hand pressed against the open wound on her belly. Weiss had enough to ignore all of the attacks, but she was still past the point where she needed to be inefficient to stay hidden. With the motion, she met all of their eyes and passed along her plan with a casual shrug that would be meaningless to anyone else. 'We need to keep her talking so that I can prepare a snare. She seems like the type who would gloat.'

Cinder moved her remaining arm. It was... different. What had moments ago looked like a Grimm was now a tangle of vines that ended in five 'fingers'. Motes of golden light flew into her 'palm' and formed a thick, curved sword. She twirled it, sauntering up to a Professor Ozpin. "Tell me, how does it feel to watch all of your plans unravel? To have all that you worked for torn away by the very heavens that you claim to serve."

"You will fall, just as all of your predecessor have." He practically lectured.

"No, I will rise." She twirled the sword, its edge barely not hitting him. "This is a new beginning. The entire world will be put into its place."

"Put into its place?" Weiss stepped forward, the truth of this effect now evident. As she moved, she let her Essence soak into the ground, covering what would be a silver glow with an illusion. "Has your new power already gone to your head? No Anathema has ever managed to take over more than a city."

Cinder glanced a Weiss, smirking. Once more the golden light spun around her, this time focused on her eyes. " Any yet, there is already one claiming to be a Queen in the east. They've scared the kingdoms into neigh submission with a very interesting threat."

"You accuse Professor Ozpin of being arrogant and yet you think you can take my team on?" Weiss twirled her rapier, point ending right above the ground. It was impossible to trigger her glyphs because that would interrupt the speech. She pushed the grimace down.

"Nothing so simple. All I need is for them to reopen the path to my throne. Queen of Vale has such a nice ring to it, don't you think?" She turned away from Weiss, her eyes glowing with sorcerous energy as they met Professor Ozpin's.

"I've encountered this spell before." He met the glare. It was a spell that inserted thoughts within someone's mind; the same spell that contributed to Ruby's attack on Beacon.

"Then you'll know that you need to attack Yang Xiao-long even if it means that Vale is cursed."

"N-No, I do not." Professor Ozpin shuddered, but stared her down. "You shall not force something so foolish on Vale with a single spell."

Cinder growled. "You will attack them."

"I will not." He shuddered, taking a deep breath. As it finished the shudders vanished, as did all inflection in his voice. "Neither you nor your Mistress will rule so long as I stand."

Weiss jammed a nail into her forearm hard enough to draw blood and tried to activate her glyphs, but still found herself too entranced to take an action that would surely end the discussion.

"I will tear everything you've built down to the ground and shatter the societies you've constructed. Now kneel." The golden light pulsed from Cinder. For a moment, a maw of golden flames appeared around her, ready to devour Professor Ozpin.

"I'd rather not." Professor Ozpin sounded like he was turning down an extra glass of water, not a raging Anathema.

"Your ancient techniques will not protect you forever." Cinder raised her blade high above her head. "If you will not obey, then you will die."

"Better women than you have tried." While his tone was deadpan, his eyes glanced over to Weiss. If she couldn't stop this, then he would die here.

Her mind raced. There had to be some weakness to this technique. She could paralyze anyone looking with fear of interruption, but they could push through it with the right impetus. If Cinder's speech was so interesting that everyone had to listen, perhaps someone else taking over the conversation 'naturally' would break the effect.

"It's rather rude to ignore ev-" Weiss stepped forward, hand reaching for Cinder's shoulder. Just before she could grab it, an unbearable terror froze her in place. She could not risk angering Cinder withou- Weiss pushed it back with an icy burst of her own power.

Her fingers wrapped around the vines that made up Cinder's forearm and pulled.

The air around her boomed, the echo from the attack deafening Weiss while Cinder was yanked from her grip.

Pyrrha's sword carried Cinder into a pillar, erupting into wild bolts of lightning when she connected. The woman shouted something, but was overwhelmed by the thunder.

Weiss glanced back. Flames had erupted from the edges of Pyrrha's eyes that pulsed in time with the flashes of light. While she stood strong, Pyrrha's skin was pale and each of her movements tight. Weiss' side twinged in memory of the near-fatal wound she'd suffered so many months ago. Pyrrha needed to focus her Aura on healing, not fighting.

"You three attack; I'll keep her away." Professor Ozpin shouted as he raised his cane, holding Weiss' gaze.

She glanced at the center of the array she'd prepared. He moved just in front of it.

Cinder landed on her feet. Her dress was shredded near the impact point, but the skin underneath was untouched.

Pyrrha's sword continued swinging at her without missing a beat. While they had all of the speed that Weiss was used to seeing, the technique was off. Cinder parried each without exerting much effort.

Weiss raised her blade and conjured a sequence of glyphs around Cinder. Unlike her normal spell, they glowed with an unearthly silver as she poured enough power in to cast inhumanly quickly. Icy shards as thick as her forearm slowly emerged from the center of each. Even with Cinder's light making it hard to aim accurately, Weiss' barrage slammed into her; though they shattered on the woman's Aura, only disrupting her footing.

Steel clashed with light, sending sparks flying. A silvery chain formed in Professor Goodwitch's hands, one of the primary killing spells that Weiss needed to learn at some point.

Before Weiss could cast again, Cinder spoke a single word in the language of Sorcery.

The spells faded at the same time that Pyrrha's sword clattered to the ground.

The words that Cinder spoke twisted around, each filtering from one meaning to another, just as the images of her dreams would. Like a serpent swimming through a whirlpool, they danced within her consciousness.

But that did not mean she couldn't pay attention.

Cinder waved her hand at Emerald, firing a glass needle with the movement.

"Oww- Huh?" The girl yelled as the needle tore into her arm, suddenly able to move again.

Weiss wrestled the chaos of the riddle, calling upon an icy order to quell its movements. If being hurt broke the spell, regaining control would be much easier.

"Deal with Nikos." Cinder commanded, red and grey light streaming from her fingers as she formed another spell. "Make sure that you are the last person she sees as she dies."

Weiss grit her teeth while she ran through every possibility.

Emerald slowly slinked over. Not looking at Weiss.

"Now, for you." Cinder held her hand in the air, Essence twirling into a ribbon of flame. With a snap of her fingers, it snaked forward. The top and bottom opened up as they neared Professor Ozpin.

He tried to move, but was far too slow. The mouth wrapped around his cane and sank into his shoulder, energy flowing into his body as the man screamed. He fell to the ground, writhing as orange light erupted from his mouth.

Cinder spared a glance toward Weiss the rage in her voice dwarfed by that in her eyes. "I will do more with my power in one day than you've managed in months."

Weiss grit her teeth and growled, the icy flame in her heart demanding release.

Cinder released a second flame serpent, this one dropping Professor Goodwitch. By the time she turned back to Weiss, Emerald had almost made it to Pyrrha.

The red and grey energies twisted together once more and within them the answer to what she lacked.

"Unity." She whispered, flicking one hand back.

"What?" Cinder gasped as Weiss' blade slammed into her gut. It failed to penetrate her Aura.

The glyph that Weiss launched herself with faded as another to appeared. Steel met conjured fire again and again. Golden sparks flew from Cinder's blade while Weiss' inhumanly fast thrusts drew the edge of her own within a centimeter of the woman's neck.

Cinder met her speed, the golden glow pulsing as she drew upon more Essence to keep up. Ever so slowly, Weiss pushed her back, approaching the edge of the zone step by step.

Of course, Weiss keeping her own light hidden made the existing difference between them much worse. Without anyone else's help, she would run herself dry long before Cinder did. But, if she let go and fought with her full strength, she would have to leave everything she'd worked on behind. Any reinforcements would turn on her as surely as they went after Cinder. But… if she wanted to keep any of them alive, she might not have much of a choice.

Two bursts of light bloomed from the side as Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch each tried to cast something, but neither was able to properly form the spell.

A dark black that absorbed the light around it surrounded Emerald's weapons.

Weiss stepped back after a clash, turning her head slightly, not allowing Cinder to leave her sight. When she spoke, her tone was imbued with as much rage as she could produce. "Emerald, I am going to give you one warning. I already broke your Aura, you can't have regenerated that much. If you so much as touch Pyrrha, I will kill you myself."

Emerald froze, stopping as she reached striking distance. Whatever technique she had been using dissipating.

"Emerald, kill Nikos and tonight I will give you the reward you so richly deserve." Cinder said, voice taking on tone that made Weiss want to gag.

"You know she's just going to keep leading you on, don't you?" Weiss smirked, pushing an image of Cinder sleeping soundly, fully clothed, while Emerald sat on another bed into the girl's mind.

"I-" Emerald started responding.

"It would stop being effective if she ever gave in. I should know; I did the same thing."

"Em-" Cinder began speaking.

Weiss hit her with as much terror she could create. The flinch left enough of an opening to press in with a hard thrust.

Cinder took the blow to the gut, flying back to where their fight began. Without landing, Weiss shot herself forward with a glyph, closing the distance in an instant.

"Even if I wanted to do… something else. I-" Weiss' bones shook from the weight of Cinder's attack. The woman snarled as she spun into another strike.

A hop back made the next blow smash into the ground. "However, that was my mistake and I need to live with the consequences of staring into this mirror."- She met Cinder's eyes which the woman regained her footing. -"And, if you follow through with this, it will be your mistake. The last mistake that you will ever make."

"You lack the resolve to kill her yourself." Cinder snarled as a wave of glass flew from behind her.

Weiss met it with a glyph. As the shards rained, she meet Emerald's eyes once more and allowed the beast within to leek through her own.

Cinder opened her mouth.

Weiss thrust, too far away to reach normally. However, as she moved, her body shifted and expanded. Her muscles bulked up while the moonsilver woven in her dress became one with her new form.

The tip of her sword caught Cinder in the cheek. Of course, it didn't penetrate her Aura even with Weiss' enhanced strength.

Weiss pressed the renewed attack, dancing a spiral around Cinder. With each step she continued to pour Essence into the air, a silver light blossoming from her body that was bright enough that only Cinder's own could be seem.

If she had put everything she could into each attack, her blows might have connected. But, she didn't need them to.

"You finally show your true face and yet, you're still nothing compared to me."

Weiss stepped back, looking past her at the fallen Professors. "I don't need to be when you don't pay attention to the battle."

A brilliant green light blossomed in Professor Ozpin's hand.

Cinder turned, raising her blade to deflect… nothing. It had only been light.

Weiss thrust her sword into the ground, activating the glyphs she'd hidden.

Cinder tried to leap away as the array activated, but wasn't fast enough.

Spike after spike of ice flew up around her, crashing around her sword and forming a glacier in the middle of the room.

With the flick of her wrist, Weiss fired a small one at Pyrrha. The girl gasped as it struck her chest, breaking the spell. Her sword and shield flew back to her.

"Pyrrha, we need to get out of here." Weiss moved to Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch. Now that Pyrrha could move, they didn't have anything to worry about from an Auraless Emerald.

"We can beat"- Pyrrha stammered, sucking in a breath -"We can still beat her."

"Pyrrha," Weiss conjured frost with the last of her Ice Dust and fed it into the torturous spell afflicting Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch. "I know how much Aura a wound like that takes to stabilize. None of us are in any condition to continue this fight."

"I… disagree." Pyrrha raised her spear. "If you can keep her frozen, I can do it."

"You'll die."

"I may still die either way. At least this way, I will have done something worthwhile with my life."

"Miss Nikos." Professor Ozpin panted as the shimmering heat was banished, though a grimace of pain remained on his face. "I must agree with Miss Schnee. As the Fall Maiden, you are the most important person in this room. It is you who the rest of us should lay down our lives to protect."

"I-" Pyrrha's breathing as stilted. "I will not spend my life running and hiding behind others. I did not accept the risk to be trapped within such a-."

"Retreating when you are outmatched is not the same as running." Professor Goodwitch joined him. "You retreat, regroup, and then return to achieve victory."

"I'm almost spent and I wouldn't bet on any of you being able to take one of Cinder's hits without your Aura's breaking." Weiss held out her hand, the unfamiliar silver glow enveloping it. "That's assuming we can even harm her through her Aura before we're taken out because we're not winning a race of seeing who's breaks first. You and Professor Goodwitch are likely the only ones who can hurt her right now, and she knows this."

"If I were not as injured as I am, there is a technique which I could use, but it would certainly incapacitate me." Professor Ozpin began gathering a green light in his off hand.

"How confident are you that it would work?"

"Certain that it would harm her, if I can connect before losing consciousness."

"Harm, not kill."

"Correct. It is a more advanced version of the strike that Lie Ren has been working on."

Professor Goodwitch nodded, shaking slightly. "Between the pain and her defensive spell, I am not confident that I could hit her. The Blasphemous have needed two or three spells in the past."

"I don't like the odds of that." Weiss shook her head. There were too many ifs with all of their lives on the line. "We'd be gambling on each of your connecting as soon as she breaks free. All she would need to stop us from getting a second chance is a single spell. I wouldn't be able to block all of the shards of glass if she finished it."

"I still think we should try." Pyrrha kept her eyes on the glacier.

Professor Ozpin glanced at Pyrrha. "I disagree. We should preserve as many lives as we can, then return to kill her. Such a woman will not be hard to find again if she truly wants to take over Vale."

"She'll be even stronger then."

"And so will those Hunting her." The inflection in his reply was very obvious. "They are already more advanced and will know what's coming."

Pyrrha went quiet.

"In any other circumstance, I would never approve of it, but desperate times call for desperate measures." Professor Goodwitch raised a hand and took a deep breath. "I would prefer if only Miss Belladonna had to be called on, she is… more reasonable."

Weiss shifted back to her normal state. "And you trust me to do this?"

Professor Goodwitch nodded. "You've proven yourself worthy of it."

The ice rumbled with the sounds of small fractures.

Professor Ozpin's light blossomed into a translucent rapier. "We will ensure that you make it out safely. I can promise nothing else."

Pyrrha held her eyes closed and bowed her head. She placed her sword hand over her heart. "May the light of victory guide your blades until they are sheathed forevermore."

"May you walk upon the scarlet fields until the end of your days." Professor Ozpin replied softly.

"I didn't know you also believed."

"Given my background, it would be difficult not to."

The glacier cracked

"We will meet again, Miss Nikos." Professor Ozpin stepped towards his enemy. "Seek out Qrow and ask him about my past. James also knows some of the truth… As does Raven Branwen, Qrow's sister."

Weiss nodded, though that was not the most important relationship. Raven was also Yang's mother. That would not be a happy reunion. With their plan ready, she turned to Emerald. "We're leaving now. If you have any desire to escape Cinder's abuse, then give me your scroll and your weapons."

The girl pulled her weapons closer. "You can't jus-"

Weiss tried to meet her eyes, but Emerald flinched away. "I know what it feels like to have someone control you, make you feel like their opinion is the only one that matters, and how hard it is to break free from them. If I didn't, then I wouldn't offer your a second chance."

Removing a potential combatant would also give the Professors more time.

Emerald looked at her hands, then the glacier.

"Cinder is Anathema now. If you stay with her, then you will never leave."

With a shiver, Emerald handed her blades over. They were followed by her scroll.

Weiss looked her up and down once, then looked to Pyrrha.

After a moment of concentration, Pyrrha nodded.

Weiss turned her back to the fight and began walking away.

As the others followed her, Professor Ozpin spoke again. "Miss Schnee, drop the elevator behind you. Block as much of the path to us as you can. She only has one arm to dig herself out with."

Weiss nodded, not looking back.

The ice shattered.


	32. Chapter 4-7

A fragment of ice fell.

"It's just like the Battle of Valentio, isn't it?" Glynda turned around slowly. Every movement made the fire within her bones surge out. Every muscle ached like she'd been fighting all day, but it didn't matter. She had to keep her students safe.

"I doubt that Peter will come charging to our rescue this time." Professor Ozpin took a defensive stance in front of her. "Third formation?"

She nodded and began preparing the Flying Guillotine. _Earth Dust flew through through the air as the silvery chain snaked its way in between her fingers._

There enemy's head appeared from the glacier.

Glynda's hands shook while she formed her spell.

With a snarl and a lurche, the woman tore her arm free.

 _The spell was released with a crack of the air._

A moment later, Cinder Fall had a new bracelet, her hand catching the chain inches from her throat. Against a normal Huntress, it would have severed her wrist.

Glynda called upon more Earth Dust while the golden light around Cinder began rotating.

When the chain was half formed, Cinder vanished int a wall of glass shards.

Glynda put her faith in Professor Ozpin and focused on her own own spell.

* * *

Weiss let out a breath of relief as they finally reached the elevator as shifted the arm supporting Pyrrha. She and Emerald had to practically carry her as they ran from the battle. They had turned the first corner just in time to avoid Cinder's first spell.

She slammed the up button, tapping one foot while the lights progressed down from the ground floor. Once they reached the top, it would be the end. All of her plans about strengthening the kingdoms from behind the scenes were over.

"Are you doing alright?" Weiss turned to Pyrrha, keeping a careful eye on her expression.

"I'm fine." Pyrrha clenched her teeth as she spoke, ending in a grimace.

"You don't look fine. Now that we're here, we can slow down and-"

"I still think we should have stayed and fought." Pyrrha looked over her shoulder. "With Emerald helping us, we would've gotten her."

Weiss glanced at Emerald,.narrowing her eyes. "And would you have helped us kill her?"

"No, I-" Emerald began.

"But you're fine killing me again?!" Pyrrha cut her off, growling through her teeth.

"Pyrrha." Weiss laid a hand on her shoulder. Her muscles were tensed so much it was like a solid wall. "You aren't acting like yourself. What's going on?"

Pyrrha took several breaths. "When I close my eyes, I can see _her_ "- She glared at Emerald. -"coming out of nowhere to attack me, only to get beaten down. I'm standing over her, ready to finish her, then get shot in the back by Cinder."

Emerald stared at her, something on the tip of her tongue.

Weiss sucked a breath in between her teeth. She'd been afraid of this. "Was this you, Pyrrha Nikos, or was it Amber?"

"I… I'm not…"Pyrrha rubbed her head, flinching as the elevator dinged. "I don't know."

The elevator doors opened with a ding and they entered in silence. Pyrrha leaned on one corner, Emerald on the other. Weiss stood on the opposite side, facing them both. That way they wouldn't have to look directly at each other. "Pyrrha, I don't know how that feels and suspect I never will, but there is someone who does. When you have the chance, you should speak with Yang about it."

"Mmmh." Pyrrha didn't nod, but there would be more time to convince her.

As the elevator rose, the blare of sirens overtook all other sounds. One of them was nearby, Beacon's own; the rest echoed from further and further away, each becoming softer until they faded into the background.

Even though the ride was smooth, Weiss' pulse continued to race. She stared at the silver glow enveloping her hands, eyes briefly flickering to the numbers counting down to the end of her life. Technically speaking, she could turn into a different shape and delay it for… a period of time.

However, the truth would be coming out and Weiss Schnee, the heiress who would bring the Schnee Dust Company to new heights, would no longer exist. In her place, there would be Weiss Schnee, silver Anathema who attacked Beacon. Everything that she wanted to work towards, all the dreams and goals that she had, were gone.

Images of her team reuniting and the Grimm being torn to shreds danced in the light.

She snuffed them out by closing her fingers.

They would need to take more direct action than she liked, but it was still possible.

* * *

The blade bit into Glynda's leg, shattering her Aura.

Her palms hit the ground first, sending a quake up through her bones. Her leg burned, the muscles no longer listening.

A green light blocked the killing strike.

Professor Ozpin pushed her back, if only for a moment.

Glynda called on the last of her strength to push herself away.

Simply breathing took as much effort as throwing a punch and each breath was harder than the last.

She pressed down, forcing herself to turn over. Their battle had left its mark on everything around them. The tiles on the floor were shattered. The columns surrounding them had gouges several inches deep torn free. The soul transfer machine was a smoking wreck.

May Amber rest in peace, even though they wouldn't be able to properly bury what was left of her. At least, the power of the Fall Maiden was in safe hands. With luck, Miss Nikos would be able to reach team RWBY before she was found again. She had more than enough skill and determination to learn how to use her new abilities without them. Perhaps, the five of them would be able to end the threat that Glynda had fought to merely delay.

Professor Ozpin gasped as he fell.

"You thought you could keep them from me." Cinder growled, stepping on his chest. "But all you have done is fail, just like you did so many years ago."

Glynda met his eyes and nodded.

"What-" he wheezed, "What are you talking about?"

"Have you ever wondering how the Dark Lady found so many who would betray your precious kingdoms? Know that it was your own mistake at Mount Glenn that led to your death." She brought the sword down on his arm.

Glynda began gathering the power for one last spell.

"You're not old enough to have been there," Professor Ozpin said with shaky breaths.

"When you called the Hunters back, there were still people in the underground tunnels. The Grimm which came for them were not alone. Within the darkness, they were taught the truth of this world. We humans are only here because _she_ wills it. All power, all control, flows from the Grimm."

"And you believe that she will allow you to remain now, a power freed from her control? Every Anathema who has joined her has been devoured by Grimm within-"

Cinder snarled, bringing her sword down on his neck. She turned to Glynda, eyes blazing. "Do you have any last words?"

Glynda smirked. "Howl."

The weight of her spell smashed into both of them .

As the darkness came, her last sight was the support pillars collapsing and the ceiling closing in.

* * *

The elevator opened to the whirr of a gun barrel.

Weiss stepped out first, meeting Coco's gaze. The girl's glasses were gone and she had a cut across her forehead that wasn't still bleeding, but had left an obvious stain on the side of her face.

"Oh thank god. I-" Coco momentarily sighed, before freezing. Her eyes flickered from Weiss' own to her forehead. Her mouth hung open, clearly searching for something to say.

"All my plans have changed. Cinder Fall became a golden Anathema when she attacked us. Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch are dead, Pyrrha is injured, and Emerald has been taken into my custody." Weiss nodded toward Pyrrha and Emerald as they walked out. Coco tracked the second girl with her gun. "What's happened here?"

" _Emerald_ and her team backstabbed us while another curse engulfed the courtyard." Coco practically spat Emerald's name. "Nora's been trying to do something about it."

Her teammates were behind her, each of them even more injured. Velvet and Yatsuhashi's eyes were wide, hands on their weapons. Fox, the blind one, just sat there. In their current state, she would probably take all three if it came down to a fight, but that would make the evening even worse.

"None of you have anything to worry about from me." Weiss sighed as she nodded, not that it changed their reactions. Salem had hit them with more than anyone expected. "Do you have any medical supplies left?"

Coco nodded.

Weiss looked over her shoulder to Pyrrha, then nodded her head. "Pyrrha needs a lot of help and it sounds like I have something else to handle."

"Why should we listen to you?" Yatsuhashi stood up on shaky legs.

 _Weiss unleashed a sliver of terror toward him._ "Because I do _not_ have the time to waste fighting or convincing you. Take care of your fellow Huntress while I fix as many problems as I can,"

With a wave of her hand, she conjured a glyph in the elevator. Another wave smashed it down, tearing the cables with a screech of steel. "Now Cinder will have an even harder time following us, but I'd relocate as quickly as I can."

"Don't look at the sky," Coco said as she set her weapon down.

Weiss shattered a window and stepped outside.

* * *

Again, Nora grabbed onto the energy flowing around her and pushed it away.

Again, it rolled back in before she could get a good grip on another bunch of it.

"Why isn't it working?" she screamed, punching the ground hard enough to crack the cobblestones.

"I'm sure you'll get it soon." Ren called out to her from the edge. He was pulling a senior out of the effect. There were still way too many people running to it and getting caught, among them was their fearless leader, sword and shield in hand.

Nora mumbled under her breath, holding her eyes tightly closed. "This was supposed to be my answer!"

"It's because you're neither strong nor knowledgeable enough..." A familiar voice echoed from behind her. "...yet."

"Weiss!" Nora turned around with a wide smile. If Weiss was here then… then…

Her hands trembled at the sight of her "friend" and teacher.

Weiss was surrounding by a silver glow that drowned out all other light, a crescent moon on her forehead.

" _Kill them all." She ordered them all. Even though Nora knew the golden circle meant trouble, she couldn't disobey._

Nora drew Magnhild in grenade launcher mode.

"I'd really prefer if you didn't, but I understand." Weiss frowned, slowly walking toward her. "You had the right idea, disrupt the center of the effect to break all of it."

When the glyph appeared beneath Weiss, Nora's finder touched the trigger. She didn't pull it, but was ready.

"Your only problem would be precision." Streams of silver light erupted toward the sky. They blotted out the light from above.

Nora could feel it stopping the blue like a cloud rolling in on a bright day.

"You have to find the core, surround it, and-" Weiss furrowed her brow, silver light flaring as it formed into a school of fish swimming around the girl.

Nora squinted.

Those weren't fish, they were sharks.

-"tear a rift in the pattern." Weiss drew her hand back, the sharks dispersing into the air as the sky erupted.

For seconds, the ground lit up with the same brightness as a stadium light.

Nora threw her weapon to her feet. The temptation to fire on _her enemy_ was too strong.

As her vision came back, she blinked the after image of Weiss from her eyes.

"Then, its own energy will help unravel itself." Weiss slid her blade into her belt.

Nora readied herself again. "How long?"

"Have I been like this?" Weiss raised an eyebrow, looking out at the crowd of students. "Since last summer."

"You've been lying to us…" Nora grit her teeth. "Manipulating us the entire time."

"Yes. I've tried to do it only in the most positive of ways, but-"

She jumped out of the way of the strike. Nora screamed, "I trusted you!"

Ren stepped up next to her, his own weapons drawn.

"Nora, Ren." Weiss let her hands fall to her side, not drawing. "Please, don't do this, not right now."

"Why shouldn't we?" His hands began glowing with a soft light.

"Because, I didn't reveal myself by choice." Weis looked her in the eyes. "Pyrrha and I are the only survivors from fighting Cinder Fall."

"Emerald's leader?"

Weiss nodded. "She's also the Anathema we fought at the docks."

Nora's heart skipped a beat. "No… that's not…"

"Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch gave their lives to allow us to escape and find help." Weiss looked around. "Where are the other Professors?"

"There're Grimm attacking downtown Vale." Penny stepped out of the crowd. "No one knows how they got in."

"Of course there are." Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose and growled, "Listen, everyone!"

She conjured a staircase of glyphs, just like she had in the dining hall way back when.

"Right now, there is a golden Anathema who can control the Grimm underneath Beacon. I've blocked her way out as best as I can, but it won't be enough." She turned, looking at all of them. "While I may be Anathema, I wish for her, Cinder Fall, to be dead as much as anyone else."

"How can we trust you?" Jaune shouted from the crowd. "You saw that someone else is Anathema, but you're the one in front of us. How do we know this isn't a trick?"

Weiss shook her head. "Quite honestly, if I wanted to lie to you, none of you would be able to tell. However, ask yourself this, what would I gain from that? This light will fade over the course of an hour. I could have stayed hidden until this happened. I could have left the spell entrancing you in place, but I didn't. I didn't because that would leave you vulnerable to Cinder when she arrives."

"That…"

"I'm not asking you to follow me; I'm providing a warning so that no one else has to die tonight." Weiss crossed her arms. "If I wanted to force the issue, there would be no choice in the matter."

Nora stepped forward. "You swear that's the truth? That someone else did this and we need to run away?"

"I do. It's possible that all of you acting as one would be able to kill her when she emerges, but that depends on her actions." Weiss paused for a moment. "If she's as smart as she appears, she won't walk into a trap."

"You're not staying to help?"

Weiss shook her head. "No, I'm going to rejoin my team."

"You think we'll just let a-" An older girl aimed a gun at Weiss.

She glared over her shoulder. _All of the blood drained from the girl's face as her weapon clattered to the ground._

All across the crowd, weapons were lowered.

Nora met Ren's eyes. If they attacked now, they could take her. There were… maybe a hundred Hunters-in-training against one person. The two of them took an Anathema with twenty regular soldiers.

But…

"Weiss…" Nora whispered. "If we go with you, will you tell me everything?"

"Yes."

"When I figured out Sorcery, it came from discovering a pattern, just like you said it would. A spell that lets me see through lies. Will you tell me when I have that?"

"Of course," Weiss replied without hesitation.

Nora put her weapon away.

Ren waited a moment, then followed suit.

Neither of them let her out of their sight, even as a handful of people left the crowd to follow her.

 **A/N: Also a bit unsure about this one, but I'm going to stick by releasing and then editing as a good strategy. Since the past two weeks have been hellishly exhausting at work.**


	33. Chapter 4-8

The rays of the morning sun blotted out the stars, but Ruby could still hear them. She rubbed her eyes hard, but her lids still threatened to fall as soon as she opened them.

She continued asking questions to the stars, seeking the futures of every person she knew from Beacon.

Most of the answers she received were… okay.

 _Traveling to Mistral._

 _Being hurt by a Deathstalker._

 _Accidentally lighting a nightclub on fire._

She laughed emptily at the last one. A year ago, that might've been Yang. Now, they had so much more to worry about that if she saw Yang just burning down a nightclub… it'd be kinda nice.

Just in case, she looked at her team's newest futures. Hopefully they weren't changing wildly anymore.

 _Yang will spend a day with only Blake and Weiss._ Well… it would be good to have everyone back together, even if Ruby needed to spend an entire day avoiding Yang's end of the house.

 _Blake will learn of an unexpected death._ Ruby gulped, that wasn't good. At least, the death would be expected with her warning?

 _Weiss will summon several demons to Remnant._

Ruby froze, checking again.

It had the same result.

She read the future one more time.

The same result was staring her in the face.

Ruby fell back into her desk chair, spinning as it rolled across the room. What had Weiss been getting up to if _that_ was what she'd be doing soon?

She kicked herself back to her workbench. The plans for Weiss' armor were sitting in front of her along with a couple of completed mechanisms. Without measurements, she wouldn't be able to build anything else.

How would Weiss summon demons? Nevermind, that was a silly question. Someone would've gotten involved in Professor Goodwitch's research and Weiss would be at the top of that list. The better question was, how could she do it? Weiss had to know exactly how Yang would feel about that, considering how she saw herself.

Also, if her sister ever found out that Ruby herself was probably part of how Weiss learned it… Ruby dropped her head to the table. There were so many secrets and half lies told to keep people from being hurt flitting around that she'd lost track of all of them.

Ruby doodled on her schematic. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad, Weiss could probably explain everything without it being too bad, even demons…

"Urgh." Ruby rubbed her eyes. The future could be changed, so she could just tell Weiss to stop.

With a yawn, she turned back to the window. She still had more people to look into.

The first came after a deep breath. Her previous future had been really bad, but maybe...

 _Penny would reunite with her best friend._

Ruby let out a sigh of relief. That meant that they were past the point where she was supposed to die.

 _A look at Professor Goodwitch came up with nothing._

Not doing nothing, not being nothing; nothing at all.

She checked Professor Ozpin next; his was also nothing.

There had never been nothing when she looked at someone's future before.

Ruby stood up and paced the room. It was pretty obvious what that meant, as crazy as the thought was. All she had was Nora's word that Beacon was under attack again, but if that was the case, why were two of the strongest Hunters there the only ones dead?

 _Professort Port will cross paths with an Anathema._ Not great, but also not terrible. He would also have gone down fighting for what he believed, probably long before Professor Goodwitch.

Maybe… maybe something had just gone after people who were important to Professor Ozpin somehow? An assassination attempt?

A shiver ran down Ruby's spine. Weiss had said that Uncle Qrow was working with Professor Ozpin a lot. Dad was too.

She reached for the strings, but hesitated at the last moment.

If Uncle Qrow and Dad were there… and they were also dead…

Every muscle in her body tensed.

No, that can't be it.

That would just be…

If she checked, then she'd know, but… could she live with that knowledge? Could she keep it together long enough for them to finish their project?

She thought back to the time when mom left and never came back. Ruby had been so little that she could barely remember it.

One image stuck out in her mind.

Uncle Qrow coming through their front door, tears streaming down his eyes. He had a pair of Orichalcum blades in his hands. Just the blades, the rest of mom's swords were gone.

It was a small fortune in metal, but they still buried them in one of mom's old cloaks. Doing anything else would've been wrong.

Ruby closed her ears to the sounds of the world. If something happened to dad or Uncle Qrow, then she could find out later. It was better to be able to believe they were still alive.

A sudden knock came from the door caused Ruby to shake those thoughts away. "You still up, sis?"

"Yeah," Ruby called to Yang after a moment of rubbing her eyes.

Yang groaned as she came in. She was covered in soot. "Holy crap, your eyes are red… redder... You need to sleep."

"I'll sleep soon." Ruby smiled as widely as she could, accepting the excuse. "How close is the north-west to being done?"

Yang shrugged. "I'll have it finished by noon."

"Mmh." Ruby nodded, marking off a section of the wall. They were almost a week ahead of their ridiculously aggressive plan. "That's good. If we get it done by next week, then we'll be on time for the next bit of..."

She paused at the sight of four buildings with arrows drawn to the opposite sides of their streets.

"... housing renovations."

"Urgh, don't remind me." Yang looked disgusted. "When I said we'd do this, I never thought we'd have to move people's houses."

"It's that or wait for them to light on fire because too much energy was concentrated on one wall… again."

Yang groaned.

Ruby awkwardly smiled. She couldn't put anything else on Yang's shoulders, not right now. "I've got it handled though. Or, Weiss will once she gets here. She'll be able to convince people that it really is in their best interest to listen without you scaring them or me taking away their choice... she's safe, by the way. Weiss is."

"Thanks for letting me know." Yang wrapped her arms around Ruby's shoulders. "But, seriously, you need to go to sleep."

"Urgh." She groaned. "You're not…"

Yang frowned.

Ruby couldn't say mom. "...okay. I'll go to bed"

She curled up on the cot in her workshop, staring at diagrams on the ceiling. They were ideas- no, not even ideas- concepts that she wanted to try when she had time… if she ever had time again.

As Ruby closed her eyes, _she thought of all that lay ahead of them._ If she was right, they needed to finish their work even faster. They couldn't stay here fixing everything while the world burned around them.

There was something larger than them out there, something waiting.

Ruby looked at the center diagram again, the way the edge curved into a space that she barely understood the concepts behind. There was something missing in her formula; until she found it, it would have to remain a dream...

* * *

The clink of metal on stone snapped him out of his daze.

"Hey buddy, your shift's up." An older man who Jaune had never seen before waved a hand in front of his eyes. He looked about as happy to be at Beacon while it was drizzling as Jaune was.

"I- Uhhh…" Jaune stammered. It was the third day, he should know this already. "Confirmation code?"

"Scarlet Indigo Yellow Grey." He repeated the code that Professor Port had given Jaune two hours ago. With that, Jaune passed the radio over. The man smiled and took his position staring at Beacon's main elevator, waiting for any sign of movement.

Following the attack, Beacon had gone into lockdown. Weiss had reported that an Anathema had killed Professor Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch. It might've just been a lie to cover her own escape, but they couldn't just ignore the chance she was telling the truth.

Jaune took one more look at the main campus elevator.

An Anathema trapped underground was less dangerous than one at large. Especially when they knew where she was going. The majority of the Hunters who could be spared from the Grimm attacks went after her, the rest had setup a siege at Beacon. Even Anathema had to eat and when it finally came out, they'd be ready.

Jaune's scroll buzzed.

Skye had sent him, 'Got out early. U?'

He was halfway through a response when someone called from behind.

"Hey." One of the older girls who stuck around waved to him, folding her minigun up into a purse. "You just get off too?"

"Yeah." Jaune stuck his hands into his pockets. Now that she turned around, he knew exactly who she was. "What'd you want?"

Coco Adel sighed, "Just checking in."

"Still following _her_ orders?"

She shrugged, "I'm here to be a Huntress-in-training, a team leader, and to take Cinder Fall down."

Jaune stared at her. She'd said it so plainly that it didn't sound like a lie, but he couldn't tell. "How? None of us are allowed to go down there?"

"It doesn't matter if I'm the one to do it, I just want to be part of making it happen. What about you? The rest of your team's following Weiss' lead now."

"I'm…" He grit hit teeth. "I'm gonna see if she was lying and help as many people as I can."

"And if she was telling the truth?"

"Then…" His scroll buzzed twice more There were three new messages: Ren, Nora, and Skye. "Then I'll let Ren and Nora know and… figure it out from there."

"Mmh." Coco's scroll vibrated as well. "If it make it easier, she values people with strong convictions who will tell her when she's wrong."

Jaune didn't respond.

"Anyway, I've gotta take this." She held the scroll up to her ear as she walked away. "Hey, we still on for tonight?"

The rest of his walk was relatively quiet. Trucks brought in additional weapons and equipment. The Vale guard, regular men and women who had just enough Aura to absorb a couple of hits, got their camps situated. If there was an Anathema, it'd be hit by as many guns as they could place when it finally came out.

He made for the second largest tent on the edge of campus. Their dorms were locked down because some of the tunnels ran underneath them. The smell of salt and beef overpowered the wet grass and mud when he stepped in. The benches were packed solid with people wolfing down whatever stew they served for dinner.

"Jaune!" Skye stood up, waving. She pointed to her left at the end of the bench. "I have a space right here."

The sight of her lifted a weight he didn't know he had from his shoulders. "Be there in a minute."

It took closer to five minutes before Jaune could get through the line, but that didn't matter. Soon enough, he slid onto the end of the bench and nudged her. "Hi."

"Hi." she chuckled and leaned in for a kiss.

He gave it, laughing in the middle. "What's so funny?"

"Youuuuu" she drew the word out. "Kind of looked like a zombie when you came in."

"Well… you brighten up even the most dreary of days."

She smiled and leaned her head back, sticking her chin in the air. "Glad to be of service."

Jaune blew on her neck.

"Grah." Skye almost slipped off of the bench from the flinch. "Jerk."

"Sorry," He met her eyes with a grin. "I couldn't help it."

"You're gonna pay for that tonight."

"Can't wait." He started on his stew, eating gigantic spoonfuls at a time. "How was your patrol?"

Skye let her spoon fall. "We finished checking all of the elevators, but we haven't heard back from either Crystal Soleil or Ron Burgundy."

"They're the Hunters who went in, right?"

"Yeah." She stirred her broth, over and over. "It's been almost six hours."

"How far down did they go?"

"They were supposed to plant sensors on B seventeen through B twenty." The three floors above the bottom most. "They're too deep for us to scroll them, but they should've reported back in by now."

"Yeah." Jaune sighed, all of that weight coming back. "That confirms it then, doesn't it?"

"Confirms what?"

"There really is an Anathema under Beacon." His spoon clattered to the table. "Weiss wasn't lying."

"Jaune?"

She'd been telling the truth. She was Anathema this entire time, but not once had she tried to control them… no, she had, but that was to stop a bunch of people from being racist…

Pyrrha was with her now, she'd been for months. Ren and Nora were at least willing to listen, even though he hadn't been.

The should've been a sign by itself. If _Ren_ and _Nora_ were willing to give her a chance…

Skye shook him hard enough to snap him back. "Jaune, what's wrong? You don't look like yourself."

"I've… I think I might've made another mistake." He pulled out his scroll and started writing them a text. "But… if I did, I still need to see this through. I can't just abandon Beacon."

" _We_ can't just abandon Beacon… there's too much at stake."

Skye pulled Jaune into a hug. "Right."


	34. Chapter 4-9

General Ironwood stood in his command room, staring at his scroll as new information streamed in. He flicked through the articles, spending only enough time to read the headline and summary before moving on.

Winter scrolled through her own, reading from the same feed.

'Beacon Infiltrated.'

'White Fang Responsible for the Fallen Kingdom?'

'Roman Torchwick Still At Large.'

'Atlas Moving In?'

A groan escaped the general's lips as he rubbed his temples.

Their situation was bad enough that even someone with no clue about international politics could follow it. With the number of targets on the rise, both Vale and Atlas' resources were spread thin. His map, which showed all active threats, had almost as many threat markers as he had units, it was only a question of what gave first.

He set his scroll down and began working on the projected map again. Five different deployment options had been set. He cycled through each of them, taking a long time to look at each.

The only constant was the ring of units surrounding Aincrad. They were close enough that their artillery could hit just outside of the walls, but far enough away that Ruby shouldn't be able to return fire.

It was always encircled, but the zone of control for each unit varied. While some configurations had more overlap than others, none would allow it to remain by itself. The rest of the units were dispersed over Eastern Sanus with several directly on the Vale border.

"We don't have enough Specialists." Winter interrupted when he reached one of the most complex maps. "Even assuming no interference, we would not be able to maintain such a pattern."

It had a larger number markers than any other, with so many circles looping through each of them that it looked like someone had thrown yarn on the table randomly.

"It would be quite difficult, but I have faith in out sorcerers and pilots." General Ironwood adjusted several of the loops. We just need to find the right distribution to-" Halfway through one modification, his scroll rang.

"Major."

"General Ironwood, sir. There are a pair of Hunters demanding a meeting with you."

"Who are they?"

"Qrow Branwen and Taiyang Xiao-Long."

He waited a moment. "Send them up."

"Right away, sir."

James took a seat behind his desk, a small hill of paperwork had appeared during the last week.

Minutes later, the door swung open hard enough that it rattled his pens when it hit the wall.

"I fucking told you." Qrow stormed into the room.

"Qrow, you promised!" Taiyang grumbled, closing the door behind him.

James pressed a button and the windows of the room dimmed. "Qrow, I'm aware of how bad this is, but-"

"We trusted her, on your fucking advice, and now we're screwed." Qrow slammed his hands onto the table. His eyes sparkled with a particular kind of madness, that of a man who was at his wits end. "I told you we couldn't trust her. But did you listen? No, of course you didn't."

"Qrow, I though-"

"Yeah, you thought… you thought wrong, but you know what?" He sighed, anger deflating as quickly as it appeared. "I need you to think again, even though we know it's a bad idea. So, what's your big plan? What do we need to do now?"

General Ironwood and Qrow stared at each other for a moment.

"What?" Winter broke the silence.

"You think I can figure this crap out? I'm a Hunter, I go out and fight things that need to be fought, and I've got no idea what to do with this multifaceted clusterf-."

"Qrow!"

He pulled out a flask, ignoring Taiyang, and gestured at the map with it. "Ozpin's dead, there's a city under siege, and four different Anathema Hunts across all of Vale… The most recent was a Silver squid-boy near the docks, right?"

Winter nodded.

"Yeah, that." Qrow took a long swig. "You've got enough Hunters to catch…"

He leaned over the map, scowling.

"What the hell is this?"

General Ironwood zoomed in, "This isn't the plan most likely to be executed."

"You're barely sending anything after Schnee."

Winter open her mouth.

"Not you."

"That's because I'd rather focus on my soldiers performing useful actions." General Ironwood shifted to one of the other maps, voice wavering slightly. "I'd need to weaken the siege too much to make a difference. I wish things were going as well here as they are in Vale."

Qrow walked up to him, squinting. "Say that again."

"I wish things were-"

"Not that! The part about hunting one of the most dangerous Anathema not being useful."

"I have a limited force, Qrow. Most of my men have to remain in position to contain the Anathema who have taken over a city. If I sent any more to help Vale Hunters track Miss Schnee, then they wouldn't be able to either maintain a blockade or keep the Grimm away from Vale's borders."

"That's just what she wants you to say, isn't it."

"Miss Schnee may be a Silver Anathema, but she is not nearly as threatening as the three around the corner, nor the Golden Anathema who is not only currently trapped in Beacon's basement, but also was working for the Enemy."

"You actually believe that crap?!" Qrow spat. "The only 'witness' to that was Schnee! She could've offed Ozpin and Glynda then made it up!"

"She would have nothing to gain by doing that and you know it."

Qrow just stared at him. "She has the Fall Maiden!"

General Ironwood matched what had turned into a glare. "This is ridiculous."

"You were in her pocket the entire time…" He reached for his sword, hand resting on the handle.

"Qrow, stop!" Taiyang grabbed his arm.

"One more question." Qrow tried, and failed, to shake himself free. "When was the last time she contacted you?"

"Two weeks ago." He lied. That was the day that the Atlas Army began setting up and she knew that he'd spoken to Weiss yesterday morning about her current position and plans.

"Damn." Qrow bought it. "Well, there goes tricking her into revealing something."

"I doubt that she'd be foolish enough to do such a thing." Winter shook her head. "Anything we found would only draw us further away from our objective."

"The objective of killing your little sister." Qrow snapped at her.

Winter didn't react.

"Too cold to even care about family, huh."

"She knew the risks of being caught when she stayed at Beacon." Winter held her hands behind her back, one gripping the wrist of the other tight enough to dull its circulation. "Besides, I will not be tracking her. There's too much of a conflict of interest."

Taiyang looked at her eyes. "I… I know what you mean. I couldn't fight my girls; not like this."

She nodded. "You'll be hunting Weiss then?"

"Yeah," Taiyang said with the tone of a man who had no hope left.

"If you are the ones to find her, please make whatever happens as quick and painless as you can."

"Of course… And… same to you." He didn't mean what he said, the truth closer to 'I hope they force you back.'

Despite the world seeing them as monsters it was nice to know that Taiyang still cared for his daughters the same way Winter cared for her sister. Despite what their society told them, they still performed their duties hoping their loved ones would come out on top. Which is what would actually give them the chance they needed.

Under any normal circumstances, the city would fall within a month. Their supplies would dwindle within weeks, especially given the major Grimm attack the city had just suffered, and there wasn't enough food stored for all of the people who stayed behind. While they still had some of the farms outside of the walls, those weren't enough. Without any relief, even the Anathema would eventually starve.

But, no one knew that Yang could allow anyone to eat dirt and rocks. Or that Ruby could undo any damage that the Grimm caused. As for their blockade, it was a minor obstacle.

Blake followed Taiyang and Qrow out of the base with a full chest of Highly-Concentrated, Military-Grade Dust on her back and a soft smile on her face.

* * *

The wind whipped around them, bringing the effective temperature from a slightly chilly four degrees down to a minus three that would have made the non-Atlesians very uncomfortable, even with their Auras. Without heavy coats or an excess of Fire Dust, there shouldn't have been a way to easily warm up.

At least, that was what Penny would have expected to happen according to her data.

Pyrrha Nikos now had the ability to conjure flames from nowhere and also bend the winds so that they were sitting in the eye of a very small, not very fast, hurricane. Some sorcerers were known to control the weather like that, but never that easily.

It was…

New…

Exciting…

Oh wait, Pyrrha was looking at her funny.

Penny stopped smiling as much as she could from the thoughts of all of the new things her friends could do. She also blinked a couple of times, removing the snow that was building up on her eyes. It was important to remember to blink before it got to that point.

It didn't stop the strange looks. She needed a distraction!

Penny threw a sword at the pile of logs, speared one, then yanked it into their campfire. The wood crackled, sending sparks into the night sky. That fixed the looks.

Moments later, Nora Valkyrie stepped out of the cave they'd set up camp near. Her eyes duller than normal, but at the same time it felt like they were staring into Penny's soul. "I'm ready."

She moved slowly, without any of the sudden jerks that Penny was already used to the girl doing. When she reached them, she sat down across from Weiss, between Pyrrha and Lie Ren.

"Very well. First, the test." Weiss' eyes flashed with silver.

Lie Ren glanced at Nora Valkyrie, then nodded. "First, which member of team RWBY would win an all out fight?"

"I'm not certain about their current capabilities, but Blake would have last time I saw them."

Pyrrha asked next. "And how many members of your team would it have taken to beat her?"

"Any two of us, though Yang and myself would likely have the hardest time due to the difficulty of finding her."

"Am I pretty?" Nora Valkyrie said without any feeling behind the words.

"Your hair looks incredible right now, but you need a bath."

"You're lying. I've been casting my spell for an hour, in a windy cave. My hair's a mess."

She wasn't wrong.

"Are you satisfied?" Weiss glanced at Lie Ren.

"Yes." He nodded. "Are you ready?"

She nodded. "Penny, you should feel free to ask me anything you wish to as well."

"Do you plan on brainwashing or killing any of us?" Nora Valkyrie took the first question.

"While that is well within my power, I have no intention of doing that."

"Have you ever done that, to anyone?" Lie Ren followed up.

"Outside of Yang explicitly asking me to try it on her, I've only used my full power on two people." Weiss closed her eyes. "The first was my father. If I hadn't, he would never have handed effective control over the Schnee Dust Corporation to me.

"The second, is Emerald." She looked at Emerald Sustrai, who still wasn't allowed to have her weapons back. "I'm trying to break the hold that Cinder Fall has on her."

After a moment, Nora Valkyrie said, "You haven't told us everything."

"No, while my touch was light, I did impose my will on a significant number of students during our first semester."

"The dining hall speech?" Lie Ren kept his eyes on Nora Valkyrie.

"Yes."

Nora Valkyrie nodded. "I can't see anything else she's hiding."

"May I have the next question?" Pyrrha poked at the fire with her finger, a flicker of energy appearing around her eyes. The flames danced around it, streaming up her arm, then launching themselves into the sky behind her.

When no one contested, she continued. "Did you manipulate me so I would gain these powers and become the Fall Maiden?"

Weiss waited a moment. "Yes, I did. There were several times when I could have buoyed your confidence regarding your position. I knew that the speed I was catching up to you in combat was hurting you, but I didn't speak up. Instead, I allowed you to stew in thoughts of inadequacy and reach for more power, no matter how risky it may have been."

"Why?"

"Because I thought that you were the best candidate and that the nature of the operation might scare you off. The purity of the human soul is held as sacred in many religions."

Pyrrha looked away from her.

"If it helps, you were also at the top of Professor Ozpin's list."

"It does… Thank you."

"On that topic." Lie Ren shifted in his seat, resting his arms on his knees. "What were you doing all semester? I… We'd thought that you were trying to do more to make up for your team falling, but that's obviously not true."

"I was primarily helping Professor Ozpin, Professor Goodwitch, and General Ironwood. We were trying to find not only a candidate for the mantle of the Fall Maiden, but also locate the Winter Maiden who's been missing for over a decade.

Professor Goodwitch needed help with perfecting a demon-summoning spell. We've since discovered why it wasn't working. And General Ironwood needed assistance with the movements of the Atlas Military and prioritizing the correct targets."

"Essentially, you were trying to take over?" He tensed.

"Nothing of the sort." Weiss shook her head. "I wanted to help the most people in the best manner I could. This meant providing advice which anyone could figure out if they had enough time.I was not using my power to take over."

"It's effectively the same thing."

"No. It. Isn't." Weiss spat every word. "Without my advice, the Atlas Army will be slightly less efficient, not crippled like it would have been if I'd centralized all decision making. It was very tempting because I can not only think faster than any human, I'm also able to see things they can not. However, all my taking over would accomplish is making them dependent on my favor and continued existence, not actually improving humanity."

Lie Ren leaned back as he looked at Nora Valkyrie.

She shrugged in response, the motion slow and smooth. "She at least believes all of that to be true."

"Weiss," Penny interrupted. "You said help humanity, but… Does that also include the Faunus? There are many people in Atlas who don't think of them as human."

Weiss took a long breath. "This was one of the primary disagreements I had with my father. Since taking over the SDC, I had been trying to improve their own lives without undermining my hold on the other executives. All directives needed to come from my father, so they had to be in line with something he might've done."

"I see." Penny nodded. "That's good."

"I'm not satisfied just yet." Lie Ren folded his hands in his lap. "You say you don't want to take control, but Yang's practically declared herself Queen of Eastern Sanus."

"Do you really think she did that on my advice?" Weiss' tone was so cold Penny had to shiver. "I told them to lay low. Instead, they did… that."

"You've been in contact with them? For how long?"

"Since a month into the semester, when I finished the dream crafting spell. Contact has mostly been one-way, with me sending them dreams each night."

"Mmh." He nodded.

They each sat in thought, listening to the crackling of the wood. Penny didn't have that much more she really wanted to know about. She looked at each of them, ending with Emerald Sustrai. She'd barely said a word to anyone, but Weiss.

And yet, her lips were quivering… Or was it shivering? Was she getting cold? She was certainly wearing less than the others and looked like she'd come from Vaccuo originally.

"Why don't you think the Anathema should rule? If they're smarter, wouldn't they be able to make a system that doesn't fall apart without them?" Emerald Sustrai broke the silence. After a moment, of everyone looking at her, she scowled. "What? I can't even ask questions now?"

Weiss waved a hand at the fire, conjuring a spider web of flames. Most of the lines converged in the center, but the spider steadily built more out as she spoke. "It's not about building just that system, it's about not establishing the precedent that they can rule. If I wanted to, I could easily take over a small region and set a social system like that up. However, what do you think would happen when I have to leave the region in someone else's hands? If I made myself that important, only another Anathema would be able to fill the position."

"You force the replacement to comply with your original vision."

Weiss sighed and her voice took on an unnatural edge. "Cinder's methods don't work."

Emerald Sustrai shuddered. "Cinder's not that bad."

"That's a lie." Nora Valkyrie grinned.

"Thank you, Nora. And I'm also sorry about that, but repetition and consistency of message are important." Weiss cleared her throat. "Forcing someone to act through such a method does not guarantee that they'll continue behaving properly in the long term, especially considering how rewarding not doing so would be. In addition, there are aspects of being an Anathema that cause them to be innately unreasonable or compelled to act in particular manner."

"Compelled?" Pyrrha questioned.

"Yes, compelled." Weiss let her web drift away. "Do you remember the fight at the docks last semester? The time that Yang shut down when we needed her?"

Penny hadn't been there, so she didn't nod.

"That happened because she was ignoring the wishes of the god who blessed her. He enacted that as a punishment."

"You're hiding something." Nora Valkyrie interrupted.

"Yes, I did. God isn't the right word, demon is." Weiss sighed. "While I was blessed by Luna and Ruby by Mars, Yang's power comes from a demon-god."

"Who?"

"I don't know. Nor do I know about Blake."

Lie Ren tapped his fingers. "You're saying that Anathama can't be in charge because they're unstable?"

"Correct. You've also seen what happens when Ruby ignores what Mars wants her to do." Weiss looked at Pyrrha. "When they fought in the woods, she was arguing about everything. When she returned to Beacon, she wasn't the girl we knew."

"Why would Lady Mars wish for her to attack her friends and teachers?" Pyrrha gripped her arms close to her body as though she had gone cold at the thought.

"Is she not the goddess of conflict? Ruby plunged the entire world into a fight that we're still dealing with through her actions that night. Through violence, she forced me to reveal everything I had done and… reconsider how I was behaving towards everyone." Weiss said, almost whispering as she closed her eyes. "But, I don't think that Ruby was truly in control of her thoughts. She wouldn't have done that willingly."

"What about you then?" Lie Ren asked after a moment. "If Yang shuts down and Ruby becomes combat mad, what does Luna do to you."

Weiss smiled. "I don't know what she would do because I've never been compelled to any strange action."

"I… don't agree with that," Lie Ren said softly. "Last semester, there was a point where your actions were… odd. Even by current standards."

The smile vanished. "What're you talking about?"

"At one point, you dragged your entire team, along with Jaune and Nora, to the library to… educate them."

"That was something which they desperately needed because otherwise they would have gotten themselves caught sooner."

"Why did you bring Jaune and Nora along with you?"

"Because both of them were committed to remaining ignorant as well."

"All while losing all self-control about your relationships, to the point that Coco Adel made sure Pyrrha and I wouldn't leak what was happening to any journalists."

"I…" For the first time Penny'd ever seen, Weiss was at a loss for words. "You may not be wrong, but…"

"But, what?"

"I made a number of mistakes that caused us to mis-identify Cinder even though we knew what she looked like before…" Weiss' skin, somehow, became paler than normal. "If I was compelled before and completely missed it, were those mistakes my own or were they forced on me?"

No one could answer her.

"I need some more time to think about that."

"That's alright, but I also have one more question." Nora Valkyrie took a deep breath. "At the start of the semester, you told me that you gave up your innocence for sorcery. Given what you've said, I don't get how that can be true. What did you really give up?"

Weiss shook her head once, the haunted look vanishing. "When I took over for my father, I immediately noticed all of the abuses, but I didn't do anything at first. I was preoccupied with not accidentally revealing myself. Then, I found a report the director of human resources had written about one of the mines. She had purposely sent specific safety officers who were known for 'breaking in unruly animals' because there were a number of families with young children who could be properly indoctrinated by his methods."

Her eyes glowed with a silver fire that was dwarfed by the anger in her voice. "I could not accept that. And so, I put a stop to it, because it was fundamentally wrong.

"What I really gave up was my hesitation when I saw a problem. It's why I made that speech in the dining hall. It's why I sought out General Ironwood and revealed my true nature to him. It's why, when I could have just run away from Beacon, I stepped into the light to shatter that spell."

Weiss leaned back and looked to the stars. "Mars said that Ruby could end the threat of the Grimm by herself within two-hundred years. Team RWBY, if we acted together, could do so within within one-hundred. From what I now know, I believe that if we all work together, not just those of us who are Exalted, we could do so much better than that."

 **End: Book Two**

 **A/N: A few people have guessed that Book Two was coming to an end and they are correct.**

 **I haven't exactly been on top of comments, but I also feel like I haven't been on top of a lot of things lately. Mistakes that should have been obvious slipped through and I've been rushing more and more to keep on schedule, which hasn't been good.**

 **Most of this can be blamed on work stress that's been ongoing since February. Good news: it's gone now. Bad news: it's gone because I was laid off.**

 **I had been planning on a month long hiatus to re-collect myself, but that may have to be extended. If I find a job soon, I should be able to get going again in August. If not… I'll need to figure out what to do because the hunt will become much more important then.**

 **Also, thanks again to IzzyCraze365 for putting up with all of my nonsense and being a great beta this entire time, especially the past few months where everything's been slipping.**

 **Anyway, I'm going to try to be better about answering questions and comments, should also go through the responses to the past few chapters.**

 **Please let me know what you think and I hope everyone has a good evening.**


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